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DENVER (KDVR) — COVID vaccine breakthrough risks tend to concentrate in older age groups even more than unvaccinated COVID rates.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released new data this week on the number and rates of Coloradans who contract COVID even though they’ve been fully vaccinated.

In a press conference Friday, Gov. Jared Polis announced that 75% of Colorado’s eligible population is now vaccinated, leaving around 1.4 million people unvaccinated as hospitals reach their highest COVID occupancy levels since January.

It is this quarter of unvaccinated Colorado that accounts for 81% of COVID hospitalizations.

The rate of infection per 100,000 for the unvaccinated is more than three times that for the vaccinated.

For hospitalizations, the rate is nearly four times greater and roughly five times greater for COVID deaths.

Age data deepens the picture, though.

COVID has always impacted the elderly more than the young. Median age climbs from cases to hospitalizations to deaths. With breakthrough cases, this trend is even more pronounced.

Among the vaccinated, the median age for both hospitalizations and deaths is concentrated among Coloradans who qualify for an AARP membership.

The median age for breakthrough cases, in general, is 45, as opposed to the unvaccinated median case age of 32.

Medical complications skew much higher for the vaccinated.

For unvaccinated persons, the median age for a COVID hospitalization is 58, more than 25 years older than the unvaccinated case age.

The median age for a breakthrough hospitalization, however, is 73.

COVID deaths have always been concentrated in the oldest age groups, but with breakthrough deaths, the number veers nearly above 80 years.

The median age for vaccinated COVID deaths is 79 years old, even higher than the median of 76 years in unvaccinated deaths.