“I’m sorry. It’s too late.”

MADISON, Wisconsin (WSAW) – The Wisconsin Department of Health Services shared a post that has now gone viral from a doctor in Alabama.

“I am admitting healthy young people with very serious COVID infections to hospital,” wrote Dr. Brytney Cobia in a Facebook post. “One of the last things they do before they are intubated is begging me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them I’m sorry, but it’s too late.

The Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Health Services, Julie Willems Van Dijk, recited part of Dr Cobia’s message during her opening remarks at the agency’s regular press conference.

“We have a lot of vaccines. We have a lot of suppliers. We just need people to raise their hands, ”said Willems Van Dijk. She continued to emphasize the efficacy and safety of the vaccine by asking, “Who do you know who has polio? Who do you know who has diphtheria … measles? “

The 98.4% of COVID cases since January 2021 have been linked to unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated people.

Currently, 48.9% of the population of Wisconsin is fully vaccinated.

“No part of the state is sufficiently vaccinated,” she said. She said herd immunity will be achieved when 80% of the population is vaccinated.

DHS’s message was to enforce the reasons for vaccinations while alerting the public to the growing number of cases and hospitalizations in the state.

“Our entire state has seen an increase in the number of cases,” said DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases chief medical officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard.

“The Southeast and Fox Valley regions have seen an increase in hospitalizations,” he added.

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