The number of vaccinated people being admitted to hospital after catching coronavirus is going up and most of them are over the age of 70, health chiefs have confirmed.

However, they say, the likelihood of being hospitalised is still 17 times lower for people who have been double jabbed than those who have not.

In October, 44% of the 2,054 people admitted to hospital with coronavirus were fully vaccinated and 55% had not been jabbed at all, according to new figures from public health institute RIVM.

But this, experts say, is largely because the virus is circulating among the elderly, who are more likely to end up in hospital. The number of nursing home residents who have been reported as testing positive for coronavirus, for example, has risen significantly since early October, to over 1022 in the last week of that month.

By contrast, unvaccinated patients are likely to be younger. The average age of coronavirus patients who have been vaccinated is 77, that of the unvaccinated 59, the RIVM said.

The RIVM also said that the vaccine protects against hospital admission in 94% of cases, and against being transferred to an IC unit in 97%. But the protection rate is slightly lower – 89% and 95% respectively – among the over 70s.

The government is to start giving booster vaccinations to the over 80s from December, although MPs have urged them to start sooner if possible.

Although the effectiveness of vaccination appears to have declined by one percentage point in the past eight weeks, this is not a cause for concern and the effectiveness is still ‘very high’, the RIVM said.