Covid NSW: Record vaccination day as ICU filled with unvaccinated patients

NSW’s ICU beds are filling up as the state’s deadly delta outbreak continues to spread, but the numbers give a glimmer of hope for the future.

Almost all of the 62 people who require intensive care treatment in NSW after contracting Covid-19 have not been vaccinated, NSW Health has confirmed.

It comes after a new vaccination record was set in NSW on Wednesday, with 106,000 people receiving jabs, a figure Premier Gladys Berejiklian said gave her “hope”.

On Thursday it was announced another 345 cases of community transmission had been recorded in the state overnight.

Two more people, both men in their 90s, died in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday night.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked the community for coming forward to be vaccinated. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

NSW deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale said the vast majority of people who had become seriously ill from the disease had not been vaccinated.

Dr Gale did say one of the men who died on Wednesday was fully vaccinated.

“Currently we have 374 Covid-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 62 people in intensive care and 29 who require ventilation,” Dr Gale said.

“Of the 62 cases in intensive care, three are in their 20s, seven are in their 30s, five are in their 40s, 13 are in their 50s, 13 are in their 60s, 19 in their 70s and two in their 80s.

“Of the 62 people in intensive care, 57 are not vaccinated, and the remaining five have had one dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer.”

Members of the public line up at the mass vaccination hub at Olympic Park in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Premier Gladys Berejiklian thanked people for coming forward to get their jabs, especially young people who were “fearful” of getting vaccinated.

“Yesterday we had a record 106,000 people in one day get a jab. That is really positive,” she said.

“That is the hope that I cling to because high vaccination rates protect people from ending up in hospital, but they also help us in stopping the virus spreading even further … it is important to try to do everything we can to reduce how contagious people are but also to keep people out of hospital, because protecting life is really critical.”