Is the Delta Variant Making Younger Adults âSicker, Quickerâ? Many doctors on the front lines say unvaccinated patients in their 20s and 30s are becoming more severely ill, and more quickly. But comprehensive data is lacking. Masked and unmasked revelers at a bar in New Orleans last week as infections rose in Louisiana. Unvaccinated patients in hospital I.C.U.s are younger than those at the outset of the pandemic, doctors say.Credit...Kathleen Flynn/Reuters Aug. 3, 2021, 7:24 p.m. ET Recently, a 28-year-old patient died of Covid-19 at CoxHealth Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. Last week, a 21-year-old college student was admitted to intensive care.