hospital room with closeup of male nurse's arm and torso Data from HHS and the CDC indicates there were a total of 287,000 preventable deaths from COVID in the past three months. (Photo: Shutterstock)

As the number of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 surges, a new analysis estimates that the total preventable costs of treating unvaccinated patients in hospitals in June, July, and August stand at $5.7 billion — including an estimated $3.7 billion in August alone.

“Despite the availability of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, vaccination rates have lagged, particularly in some states and among younger people,” according to officials overseeing the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker — an online information hub that monitors and assesses the performance of the U.S. health system. “As of early September 2021, 25% of adults over the age of 18 in the U.S. remain unvaccinated for COVID-19. As a result of lagging vaccinations and the more infectious Delta variant, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are on the rise again.”

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