Ingham County's COVID-19 deaths are continuing a "steady climb" with the monthly total on track to become the second highest since the start of the pandemic, county Health Officer Linda Vail said.
So far, 56 county residents have died of the disease this December, according to health department figures updated Sunday.
The death totals have been trending upward since this summer. By the end of this month, Vail believes December 2021's deaths will exceed what was previously the second highest death total of 58 in January 2021.
The county's monthly COVID-19 deaths peaked at 83 in December of last year.
Despite the presence of some breakthrough infections among vaccinated individuals, vaccinations plus booster shots are key to reversing the grim trend, Vail said.
"Getting mild illness is very different than thinking about whether that vaccine is protecting you from severe illness, hospitalization and death," Vail said.
Unvaccinated Michiganders are about four times more likely to get COVID and over 13 times more likely to die from it as compared to fully vaccinated people, according to state data as of October.
The state defines fully vaccinated as one dose of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine or two doses from Moderna or Pfizer.
Vail said she got COVID in October and believes her illness was relatively minor because of her vaccinated status.
"As a vaccinated person, it wasn't very severe at all," Vail said. "Eventually that tight, dry cough dropped a little bit and I had a little bit of a cough for two or three weeks after that."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently shortened the recommended isolation time for asymptomatic people with COVID-19 from 10 days to five. Asymptomatic people are still supposed to wear masks around others for at least five days after that.
CDC officials cited data showing most transmission occurs during the early stage of the illness, although Vail believes the guidance should have taken into account vaccination status, as well.
"What we know when you're vaccinated is that that helps your body clear the virus faster," Vail said. "So you truly are contagious for a shorter period of time."
