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As senior health officials warn that COVID-19 has become an “unvaccinated pandemic,” recent figures from states and cities across the United States reveal to what extent the virus is affecting people who are not. not fully vaccinated.
A vivid example: In June, every person who died from COVID-19 in Maryland was not vaccinated, according to a spokesperson for the governor’s office. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 130 people died from COVID-19 in Maryland in June.
MORE: As COVID-19 rises again, what experts say millions of unvaccinated
New COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were also mostly unvaccinated people, the state said, at 95% and 93% respectively.
Other states have reported similar results while urging people to get vaccinated, as the most transmissible delta variant increases cases of COVID-19.
In Louisiana, 97% of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state since February are unvaccinated, Gov. John Bel Edwards said friday. Between February and July, unvaccinated people in Louisiana were 20 times more likely to be infected with COVID-19, according to the state’s health department.
The numbers were reported as state health officials warned Louisiana was now in a “fourth wave” of the virus; As of Friday, the average daily number of cases per 100,000 people statewide had risen 177% in the past 14 days. The number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 also doubled during this period, health officials said.
With the delta variant now the most dominant strain in Louisiana, about 46% of adults in the state are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
“We have only two choices, either we will get vaccinated and end the pandemic, or we will accept death, a large part, this outbreak and another outbreak and maybe another variant,” infectious disease Dr Catherine O’Neal said Friday during a press briefing on COVID-19.
In Alabama, more than 96% of COVID-19 deaths since April 1 have been unvaccinated people, the state’s health department said on July 13, for 509 of a total of 529 deaths. More than 42% of adults in the state are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
In Los Angeles County, nearly all COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported on July 12. Of the 1,059 new cases reported that day, nearly 87% were in people under the age of 50.
“COVID-19 vaccines are the most effective and important tool to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and the spread of variants like the highly transmissible delta variant,” said Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer in a statement. communicated.
MORE: The Risks to Unvaccinated Americans
Due to a “rapid increase” in COVID-19 cases in the county, from 210 reported on June 15 to 1,537 two months later, local authorities reinstated a mandatory indoor mask warrant, regardless vaccination status, over the weekend. Over 60% of county residents aged 16 and over are fully immunized.
New York City Health Commissioner Dr Dave Chokshi said vaccines are “surprisingly effective” while sharing that more than 98% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the city between January 1 and June 15 concerned people who were not fully vaccinated. This included 8,069 deaths in people who were not fully vaccinated. Over 64% of adults in New York City are fully immunized.
The national picture is unclear, until mid-June former White House COVID-19 adviser Andy Slavitt said in an interview with the Washington Post that “98.99% and more of people hospitalized and dying with COVID have not been vaccinated. “
As parts of the country with low vaccination rates experience COVID-19 outbreaks, “there is a clear message passing,” CDC director Dr Rochelle Walensky said at a press briefing on Friday. . “It is becoming an unvaccinated pandemic.”
“Completely vaccinated communities are generally doing well,” she added.
More than 56% of people aged 12 and older in the United States are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Clinical trials have shown that COVID-19 vaccines are very effective in preventing serious illness and death. Groundbreaking cases – when a fully vaccinated person is infected with COVID-19 – are rare after a full vaccination; a recent CDC report found that they can occur in only 0.01% of all people who are fully vaccinated.
“The message, loud and clear, that we must reiterate is that these vaccines continue to [provide] strong protection against SARS-CoV-2, including the delta variant, ”said Dr Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease expert, during Friday’s White House briefing, calling the delta variant a “Formidable”. family and community to get vaccinated.
Statistics show that the high risks of not getting the COVID-19 vaccine originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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