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More than 65 doctors and medical workers in Mendocino County issued a stern public letter on Monday urging residents to get vaccinated amid a crush of new, often severe cases of COVID-19.
“Every day, we take care of more and more patients with COVID-19. Our emergency services are overflowing. Our hospitals are full. Our intensive care units are full, ”the letter reads.
As the highly contagious delta variant spreads, COVID-19 hospitalizations in rural northern California counties are increasing rapidly, straining already limited resources. Doctors and nurses are on the verge of exhaustion eighteen months after the start of the pandemic. Patients are waiting for beds. The intensive care units are full.
Many of those who are hospitalized are not vaccinated, doctors said. The current fourth wave of COVID is also seeing more younger patients. Unvaccinated people in California are more than six times more likely to contract the coronavirus than those who are vaccinated, according to recent data from the state.
The letter says transferring patients to nearby hospitals has been difficult as neighboring counties face their own outbreaks of COVID. Medical staff said they had grown accustomed to hearing the phrase “there are no hospital beds in all of northern California.”
“Never before has our medical system been faced with such a challenge. We can all do our part in this dire situation by getting vaccinated, ”Mendocino doctors and doctors wrote in the letter.
The problem is compounded for rural areas as it simultaneously deals with fast-growing forest fires, which degrade air quality and can lead to health complications for people with underlying health conditions.
The overflow of patients in hospitals is also having an impact on non-COVID patients – those struggling with strokes and heart attacks, and other medical issues, have difficulty finding beds, the report says. letter.
Doctors in Del Norte County, far north of California on the Oregon border, issued a similar letter pleading with the public to get vaccinated earlier this month. Many of these doctors also work in Humboldt County.
Despite rumors and misinformation circulating about the vaccine, the letter emphasized that vaccines are safe and effective:
“Please speak with us, or your primary care provider, about the COVID-19 vaccine. The data and the science are clear: the vaccine is safe and highly effective in preventing serious illnesses related to COVID-19 and deaths related to COVID. We are vaccinated. Getting the vaccine will not only protect you, but also keep your loved ones and your community safe and out of the hospital. “
Shwanika Narayan is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @shwanika Instagram: @shwanika
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