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However, after the Covid-19 vaccines were widely distributed in the spring, Henry and his family chose not to be vaccinated. Henry said that due to their rural location and way of life, their risk of exposure was low.
But then she started to feel bad about three weeks ago. “Never in a million years do you think this is going to happen to you,” she said.
Her family did not have any July 4th gatherings and they don’t know how they got infected. But now she and her husband, Lonnie, are in hospital recovering from Covid-19.
While one of her six children also tested positive and avoided hospitalization, Lonnie is currently on a ventilator. Christy herself has been intubated for at least two days.
Her doctor told her she was lucky to be alive, Christy told CNN from her hospital bed.
“Covid-19 is extremely, extremely serious,” she said, urging everyone she knows to get vaccinated.
The difference in prognosis between those who are vaccinated and those who are not is also increasingly apparent. More than 97% of people who enter hospitals for Covid-19 treatment are not vaccinated, CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a White House briefing last week.
“There is a clear message going. This is becoming an unvaccinated pandemic,” Walensky said.
Dr Howard Jarvis, an emergency physician in Springfield, Missouri, noted that rates of Delta variant infection are easily seen in area hospitals.
“I think this variant is just tougher than what we have seen before,” he said.
Get ahead of the Missouri wave
As the number of cases increases, nurses and doctors are once again on the front lines of the pandemic.
Kate Giacchi, an intensive care nurse at the University of Missouri hospital, said staff were “mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted” from dealing with Covid-19 for over a year, without any relief in sight.
“The disease is real and it kills people and it is preventable,” she said.
As healthcare workers are at greater risk of contracting Covid-19 as more patients arrive, some facilities require all employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19. The Mercy Health system in Missouri and neighboring states has set a deadline for employee immunizations at the end of September.
“We have a narrow window to maintain or move forward where we are now,” said Craig McCoy, president of Mercy Springfield Communities.
“As of this morning, we have 172 people hospitalized, which is our all-time peak,” he told CNN.
Susan Dean, a retired health care worker from Missouri, is like those in the industry who are reluctant to get vaccinated. She told CNN she was wary of the vaccine’s long-term effects and disagreed with mandates for hospitals like those administered by Mercy that all healthcare workers should be vaccinated.
“I don’t think we know enough about the vaccine to say, ‘This is what it does,'” she said.
“Although the Delta strain is more contagious, the vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective against it,” Governor Mike Parson said Wednesday. “We encourage all Missourians to consider getting vaccinated because almost all new Covid hospitalizations can be traced to unvaccinated people.
“We understand that some Missourians do not know whether or not to get the vaccine, and this is an important decision for many families,” he said. “That’s why we encourage you to strike up a conversation with your personal physician, local health care officials, or other trusted community leaders so you can get the facts and decide when getting the shot is right for you.”
Christy Henry, who asks for continued prayers for her husband’s health, agrees.
“I’m going to tell everyone, everyone I know and love,” she said, “that you need to get vaccinated.”
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