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(NEW YORK) — During the omicron wave, unvaccinated Americans had much higher rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalization than fully vaccinated people — especially those who received a booster shot, officials said Tuesday.

In a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health looked at county-level COVID data between Nov. 7, 2021 and Jan. 8, 2022.

They found that in the 14-day period ending Dec. 11 — the last period in which the delta variant was dominant — COVID case rates in Los Angeles were 12.3 times higher among the unvaccinated compared to boosted individuals. Hospitalization rates were 83 times higher.

By the time the omicron variant became dominant, the rate ratios were lower, but still showed that vaccinated people are much more protected.

During the week ending Jan. 8, unvaccinated people had infection rates 3.6 times higher than people who had received boosters and hospitalization rates were 23 times higher.

Additionally, fully vaccinated people in Los Angeles who had not received a booster had COVID case rates that were twice as low and hospitalization rates 5.3 times lower than the unvaccinated group.

The report found that, over the course of the two-month study period, nearly 423,000 COVID-19 cases were reported in Los Angeles County residents aged 18 and older.

Of the cases, 33.6% were among the unvaccinated, 53.2% were among the fully vaccinated without a booster and 13.3% were among fully vaccinated people who had received a booster.

It’s worth noting that, as of Jan. 8, 71% of county residents were fully vaccinated, according to county health department data. This means there will be a higher risk of breakthrough infections due to the higher absolute number of people being vaccinated.

Nearly 3% of unvaccinated individuals were hospitalized, 0.5% were admitted to the ICUs and 0.3% died of the virus, according to the report.

By comparison, 1% of fully vaccinated people without a booster and 0.7% of people with a booster were hospitalized.

Additionally, 0.12% of unboosted people and 0.08% of boosted people were admitted to ICUs and 0.05% and 0.03% died, respectively.

The report found that, during the omicron wave 6,743.5 per 100,000 unvaccinated people were contracting COVID-19 and 187.8 per 100,000 were hospitalized.

Among fully vaccinated people without a booster, rates were lower at 3,355.5 per 100,000 for COVID-19 cases and 35.4 per 100,000 for hospitalizations.

Rates were lowest among fully vaccinated people with a booster at 1,889 per 100,000 for infections and and 8.2 per 100,00 for hospitalizations.

“These findings align with those from recent studies, indicating that COVID-19 vaccination protects against severe COVID-19 caused by … variants, including omicron,” the authors wrote in the report. “Efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination and boosters are critical to preventing COVID-19–associated hospitalizations and severe outcomes.

The CDC has previously released similar estimates on the high risks for the unvaccinated when it comes to the omicron variant.

A report published last month from the agency found unvaccinated adults had a three times higher risk of infection than fully vaccinated adults and five times higher risk than those who had also been boosted.

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(NEW YORK) — Johnson & Johnson and the nation’s three largest drug distributors agreed Tuesday to settle opioids-related claims by Native American tribes for nearly $600 million.

The settlement, announced in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, is tentative until hundreds of tribes sign on, which is expected.

“The Native American population has suffered some of the worst consequences of the opioid epidemic of any population in the United States. Indeed, American Indians have suffered the highest per capita rate of opioid overdoses,” the tribal leadership committee said in a statement filed with the court. “American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest drug overdose death rates in 2015 and the largest percentage increase in the number of deaths over time from 1999-2015 compared to other racial and ethnic groups.”

Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $150 million over the next two years while not admitting liability or wrongdoing. The company defended its promotion of the medications.

“The Company’s actions relating to the marketing and promotion of important prescription opioid medications were appropriate and responsible,” Johnson & Johnson said in a statement. “DURAGESIC®, NUCYNTA® and NUCYNTA® ER accounted for less than one percent of total opioid prescriptions in the U.S. since launch. The Company no longer sells prescription opioid medications in the United States as part of our ongoing efforts to focus on transformational innovation and serving unmet patient needs.”

The drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen Corp., McKesson Corp., and Cardinal Health, Inc. — agreed to pay $440 million over the next seven years.

The tribal leadership committee said the money would help offset the “considerable” funds tribes have had to spend to cover the costs of the opioid crisis.

“The burden of paying these increased costs has diverted scarce tribal funds from other needs and has imposed severe financial burdens on the Tribal Plaintiffs, which will continue to bear significant costs related to abatement of the opioid addiction problem in their communities,” the tribal leadership committee said in its statement.

“This is a monumentally historic settlement that goes a small but very important distance toward addressing a killing epidemic that devastated tribal communities,” said Lloyd Miller, one of the lead tribal attorneys.

“Tribes are sovereign governments and must be able to vindicate their own interests to protect the health and welfare of their tribal communities,” Miller added.

The settlement puts Native American tribes on equal footing with states and cities as they try to abate the opioid crisis.

“The tribes have established in this case that they can play a major litigation role along with the state and local governments,” fellow tribal attorney Steve Skikos said. “The focus should be on the tribes themselves and how this settlement can help continue their efforts to address the opioid crisis.”

Tuesday’s result is different than Big Tobacco litigation, in which tribes were relegated to the sidelines and given only a share of what states received to address the consequences of tobacco and nicotine.

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