Deaths from COVID-19 reported in New South Wales increased by 50 per cent last week compared with the week before, new data shows.
As the third wave of the Omicron sub-variant took off across the state, 142 people were reported to have died with COVID-19 in the week ending July 16, compared with 94 people the previous week.
More than 3200 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in New South Wales this year.
Cases have surged to more than 12,000 a day this week, more than double the number reported in mid-June.
About one in 10 (13 per cent) of the deaths were in unvaccinated people, who number about 200,000 of those aged over 16 in New South Wales.
About 20 per cent of the deaths were in people who had received four doses of a vaccine.
Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University said the high number of deaths in those with three or four doses of vaccine reflected the different age-specific vaccination rates.
People with more doses of vaccine were older and therefore in much higher COVID death risk groups, she said.
"So that can mask vaccine benefits by making death rates look higher in the more vaccinated people, especially when comparing three with four doses," Professor Bennett said.
Nationally, fourth dose rates are higher in those aged over 70 compared with younger Australians.
The fourth dose was approved for those aged 65 and over in May, and for those aged 30 and over earlier this month.
A third of the people who died (46) were eligible for a third dose.
"Within age groups, the death rate is still going to be 10 times lower for the vaccinated people in that group," Professor Bennett said.
The data showed that the majority of deaths were in those aged over 70.
A COVID conference of experts in Sydney on Thursday heard that vaccination induced a far more robust immune response than getting infected with the virus.
Lab head Amy Chung from the Doherty Institute in Melbourne told the second Australasian COVID-19 conference that protection from vaccination was longer lasting than from infection.
"We now know the people can get long COVID, about 20 per cent have long-lasting effects, whereas vaccination does not induce any of these side effects," she said.
"Vaccination is the way to go, regardless of age - elderly, children. Vaccination is really important."
