Hospital admissions in England of patients with Covid-19 aged 85 and over have fallen 90% since the peak of the second wave, new analysis shows.
The number has dropped from a peak of 863 admissions on January 12 to just 90 on March 5.
It is the first time daily admissions for the 85 and over age group have been below 100 since October 10.
The steep drop reflects the combined impact of the ongoing lockdown and the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine.
People aged 80 and over were among the first groups to be eligible for a vaccine and some will now have received both doses.
A study published last week by Public Health England suggested a single dose of either the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer vaccine is more than 80% effective at preventing hospitalisation for people over 80, around three to four weeks after the jab.
The analysis, by the PA news agency, is based on the latest figures from NHS England.
It shows hospital admissions of patients aged 65 to 84 have also fallen sharply since the second-wave peak, dropping 91% from 1,678 on January 12 to 159 on March 5.
The overall number of admissions in hospitals in England stood at 487 on March 5, the lowest figure for exactly five months – since 472 on October 5.
A total of 7,812 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital in England on March 7.
This is down 77% from a record 34,336 patients on January 18.
It the lowest number of Covid-19 patients in hospital in England since October 25.
