The Hunter's public health controller says evidence from the US that unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19 should be a warning to those still resisting the jab.
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Hunter New England Health announced on Wednesday that an unvaccinated man in his 40s with underlying health conditions had died in Maitland Hospital, bringing the region's death toll to four in the past four days and 11 since the latest outbreak of the pandemic began in early August.
HNEH's Dr David Durrheim said COVID-19 was a serious illness with a mortality rate 10 times higher than influenza.
He said data from the US, which, like Australia, has just over half its entire population fully vaccinated, gave insights into the effectiveness of the vaccines.
"What we're seeing now is that your risk of dying of COVID-19 is 11 times higher if you're not vaccinated," he said.
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Dr Durrheim was referring to US Centers for Disease Control data collected during the delta-variant outbreak this year.
"We're also seeing that people who are immunosuppressed are much more vulnerable, and we've seen that locally as well," he said.
He said it was important for people with suppressed immune systems to follow the official recommendation to receive an additional vaccine dose.
"Some people are just more vulnerable. Some people will succumb to COVID much more easily, so we all have a burden to bear.
"We've protected ourselves, we've protected our families, but we need to extend that protection to those that are vulnerable in our community who don't mount as good an immune response.
"We need to get ourselves vaccinated to protect them as well."
The Hunter New England Health district recorded 62 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, more than a third of them in Lake Macquarie.
The new cases included 22 in Lake Macquarie LGA, 10 in Newcastle, eight in Cessnock, seven in Maitland, five in both MidCoast and Tamworth, three in Port Stephens and two in Singleton.
Forty of the new cases were infectious in the community.
Hunter and New England hospitals are treating 24 COVID patients, including three in intensive care.
NSW reported 283 new cases and seven deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday.
The state's over-16 adult full vaccination rate stands at 81.6 per cent, and the nation has passed the 70 per cent milestone.
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
