I've got some figures for you.
On 26 October, for England's hospitals (and with some minor exclusions such as hospices) there were
6883 patients staying for at least one night with COVID-19
2685 have not had 2 vaccinations + 2 weeks
40% approx are unvaccinated by the above definition.
20% approx England are unvaccinated, aged 12 upwards, so the unvaccinated are over-represented in COVID wards by a factor of two
13% approx should be unvaccinated if age profile is taken into account (hospitalisation is usually for older people, and they are more vaccinated than 12 year olds). So over represented by three.
So the very best reading of this is that about 1800 people are in hospital unnecessarily due to not taking the vaccine to the same level as England generally, bringing total hospital patients down from 6800 to 5000 in round numbers. That's costing all of us an avoidable £1m a day.
The other reading is that if the UK was 99% vaccinated - which would bring down infection rates down a fair bit - we can reasonably say that hospital patients would be reduced to around half current levels, something like 2,500 to 3,500 fewer patients. Each person in a hospital costs a minimum of £500 per night (and ICU visits don't get much change from £20,000). So the self indulgent non vaxxers are costing the England taxpayers around £12 million every week in marginal/ additional costs - and of course there are wider costs for things like social security payments. So that cohort of about 5 million un-vaxed people are costing all of us around £600 million a year as a very minimum. It would cost about £60 million to vaccinate this group of 5 million.
Some caveats. Some people down as unvaccinated have actually had both jabs but haven't got to 2 weeks yet, so are regarded as unvaccinated. In a small number of cases this is due to ongoing chronic health problems which has made it difficult for them to be vaccinated. Or they have had COVID twice and are unable to get dose 2 for at least a month after each case. Also the vaccination figure is reached by looking at NHS numbers in NIMS, the national immunisation register, and as mentioned by many FTers there are quite a few mistakes there. Finally those vaccinated outside England but treated in England may well show as unvaccinated when in fact they are vaccinated.
