What are COVID-19 hospitalization rates by age group for vaccinated vs unvaccinated in 2025?
Executive summary
Available public reporting through mid‑2025 shows COVID‑19 hospitalization rates remain highest in the oldest adults (≥75 years) and infants (<6 or <12 months), and that vaccinated people—especially those boosted or up to date—have substantially lower hospitalization rates than unvaccinated people; for example, CDC-linked COVID‑NET and related analyses found hospitalization rate ratios favoring vaccinated or boosted persons by multiples (e.g., 6.8–17.7× higher in unvaccinated versus vaccinated in earlier surveillance periods) and cumulative season rates around ~38 hospitalizations per 100,000 in 2024–25 reporting [1] [2] [3]. Available sources do not provide a single, fully disaggregated 2025 table of hospitalization rates by narrow age-by‑vaccination bands covering the calendar year 2025.
1. What the data consistently show: age skews and seasonality
Surveillance through 2024–2025 repeatedly identifies the oldest adults (≥75 years and 65–74 years) and very young infants as the groups with the highest COVID‑19 hospitalization rates; CDC presentations and summaries state that adults ≥75 had the highest rates, followed by infants <6–12 months and adults 65–74 [1] [4] [5]. Reports also stress seasonal surges—winter 2024–25 saw case and hospitalization increases tied to Omicron sublineages [6] [3].
2. Vaccination status matters: large relative differences
Multiple CDC analyses and peer‑reviewed surveillance studies find substantially higher hospitalization rates among unvaccinated people compared with vaccinated people. Population‑based COVID‑NET analyses from 2021–2022 showed unvaccinated adults had hospitalization rates many times higher than vaccinated adults (monthly and period cumulative rate ratios ranged roughly from 3.5× up to 17.7×, with cumulative Delta/Omicron period ratios like 12.2× and 6.8×) and later COVID‑NET/ACIP slides and summaries continue to show reduced hospitalizations among those who were boosted or up to date [2] [7] [8] [9]. Independent summaries note vaccinated hospitalized patients tend to be older and have more comorbidities than unvaccinated hospitalized patients, underscoring that observed hospitalizations among vaccinated people often represent higher‑risk subgroups [10] [11].
3. How big were 2024–25 season rates in broad terms
Analysts reported an overall COVID‑19–related hospitalization rate of about 38.0 per 100,000 people during the 2024–2025 season in U.S. summaries, with substantial variation by age and geography [3]. CDC COVID‑NET slides for the October 2023–May 2024 window and updates through March–April 2025 provide weekly age‑group charts rather than a single compact age‑by‑vaccine table in the public slides [5] [12].
4. What precise age-by‑vaccination numbers are missing from current reporting
Public sources provided here do not include a single, consolidated 2025 dataset that lists hospitalization rates for each age band (e.g., 0–5, 6–17, 18–49, 50–64, 65–74, ≥75) broken out by vaccination status (unvaccinated, primary series, boosted, up‑to‑date) for the calendar year 2025. CDC materials referenced show weekly or period charts and rate ratios, and research studies report relative multiples [5] [2] [12]. Therefore, a precise numeric table answering “hospitalization rate per 100,000 by age and vaccination status in 2025” is not present in the cited sources (not found in current reporting).
5. How to interpret relative risk: confounders and context
Rate ratios favoring vaccination are robust across many reports, but vaccinated hospitalized patients are more likely to be older or have multiple chronic conditions—factors that push their absolute risk up despite vaccine protection [10]. Surveillance systems also note undertesting and changing testing practices can bias absolute hospitalization rates; many CDC dashboards warn that reported rates are not adjusted for undertesting and that differences in testing by age or facility affect comparisons [13] [5].
6. Competing perspectives and implicit agendas
Public health agencies and professional outlets emphasize vaccine benefits for lowering hospitalizations and critical illness—ACIP slides and FactCheck summaries highlight reduced risk for older adults and benefits of boosters [12] [14]. Industry or testing vendors may emphasize testing demand and strain on systems [6] [15]. Watch for framing: organizations pushing vaccine uptake stress relative risk reduction; vendors may highlight case surges to support product use; independent studies provide rate ratios but depend on catchment areas and methods [8] [2].
7. Practical takeaway for readers and next steps for precise numbers
For policy or clinical decisions you should consult the CDC RESP‑NET/COVID‑NET dashboards and ACIP slide packs that publish weekly age‑group hospitalization rates and, where available, vaccination‑stratified charts; the sources above point to those materials but do not supply a single 2025 age‑by‑vaccine table in the documents provided [5] [12] [13]. If you want a specific numeric table for 2025 by narrow age bands and vaccination status, request that I extract the latest COVID‑NET weekly slides or RESP‑NET dashboard files (if you can provide them) and I will produce a compiled age‑by‑vaccination rate table and explain limitations in the underlying surveillance methods.