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This is a podcast / audio story. to listen “Alabama outbreak: stories of a pandemic”, above.
Today we hear Dr. Karen Landers, Assistant Public Health Officer, Alabama Department of Public Health, discuss several issues related to COVID-19, the vaccine, and the Delta variant, which continues to plague. in Alabama.
First, some new facts, as reported by Ramsey Archibald of AL.com: For the first time in more than five months, hospitals in Alabama are treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19. This is the first time that Alabama has crossed the 1,000 COVID hospital patient mark since February 17. Hospitalizations have increased by more than 500% since just before the July 4 vacation.
The Alabama Department of Public Health has confirmed that the vast majority of COVID-related hospitalizations in Alabama are unvaccinated people.
This week, Dr. Karen Landers appeared on CNN when presenter Jake Tapper pressed her about Alabama’s low vaccination rate.
I spoke to Landers about misinformation as one of the main causes of vaccine refusals, why schools should be forcing children to wear masks this fall, why young people disproportionately refuse the vaccine, and what causes it. most concerned about the contagious Delta variant.
Below are some excerpts from the interview:
On vaccinated vs unvaccinated data:
“The data shows it, and it shows it in Alabama. We see that there are fewer hospitalizations among people who have been vaccinated, even if they have a vaccine breakthrough. We have fewer serious illnesses among people who have been vaccinated. And we have fewer deaths among the fully vaccinated. Again – data, science, information from people who work in this field and do this type of work and see these kinds of results. And this is really my call to all Alabamians. If you look at the results of COVID-19 and the people who have been fully vaccinated, then you look at the results of COVID-19 for the people who have not been vaccinated. The people who have not been vaccinated, at this time, represent almost all of the hospitalizations that we have had. I don’t want to see anyone die from this disease which I think could be drastically reduced or prevented by taking a vaccine. And that’s what keeps me going here every day. I’m just trying to save lives. That’s what we’re trying to do at the Alabama Department of Public Health. Get that vaccine out. Prevent people from dying. Prevent people from being hospitalized and prevent people from having these serious complications of COVID, like the long COVID, which can be seen even in children. “
On the risk of losing children to preventable disease:
“The life of every child is precious, and we don’t want to lose children in the state of Alabama to disease that we can have such an impact on reducing or preventing. It really touches and breaks my heart to think that we are going to lose more children in the United States and that we could lose children in the state of Alabama to this deadly virus. “
On a potential ‘Alabama variant’:
“This is a really serious variant, and every time someone is infected it also not only gives the opportunity to infect other people, but it also gives this virus the opportunity to do something. thing with its own genetic material that makes it able to evade the body’s ability to fight this infection and / or the ability of the vaccine. So we’re going to come up with another variant. I hope we won’t call it ” the Alabama variant “. I’m really worried about that because viruses mutate. They grab those opportunities. And we don’t need to give this virus that opportunity. This virus doesn’t deserve another chance. to infect another Alabamian. ”
Listening to doctors:
“Seeing something that is not taken seriously and not being seen as a disease that we certainly don’t fully understand the full scope of, but we know people can have long-term consequences, and we are seeing it. This has been going on for 18 months and we are seeing these issues continue to occur in people who have had COVID. So it’s really worrying. It is distressing. But at the same time, it’s a motivation for me. It’s literally a motivation to say that I can’t give up. I cannot give in. I must continue to provide factual medical information, the same information that I provide to my own family. The same information I provide to my own children, who are also vaccinated. And just so you can tell the citizens of Alabama, listen to the science-based facts. Hear from the likes of Dr. Michael Saag and Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, world-renowned infectious disease specialists, and they have the best interests of the citizens of Alabama at heart, like all of us who work in this field.
If you or someone you know is affected by COVID and would like to share your story, please send an email [email protected]. For all of our coverage on the outbreak and how it continues to impact Alabama, visit AL.com/coronavirus.
If you like the show, please rate us and write a comment. Thank you for your attention.
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