The risk of COVID-19 for some unvaccinated people is higher than ever, expert says

WASHINGTON – Expectations that the United States would find itself returning to pre-pandemic normalcy this summer are quickly giving way to the realities of a protracted fight against COVID-19, as all 50 states see an increase in infections.

And national health officials are taking note.

“If you are not vaccinated, the risk is incredibly high – and perhaps in some areas higher than ever before,” said Dr Craig Spencer, director of global medical health. emergency at Columbia University Medical Center.

“Because there are no mask warrants, people are taking advantage of this wonderful comeback of summer and being a little more carefree and nonchalant and making it more possible that you can be exposed,” Spencer told CNN. Friday.

Indeed, the number of people traveling by plane set a pandemic record on Friday, with nearly 2.2 million people screened at U.S. airports, a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration said, adding a warning: “#MaskUp.”

In the meantime, those vaccinated should “continue to be smart,” but they are very unlikely to get sick, be hospitalized or die from COVID-19, Spencer said.

How the pandemic affects vaccinated and unvaccinated people differently is being demonstrated in hospitals across the country, as local health officials report an overwhelming majority of hospitalizations from COVID-19 among those who have not yet been fully vaccinated .

About 48.4% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the pace of vaccinations over an average of seven days was down 13% from the previous week.

Among states that have fully vaccinated less than half of their residents, the average rate of COVID-19 cases was 11 new cases per 100,000 people last week, compared to 4 per 100,000 among states that have fully vaccinated more of half of its residents, according to a CNN Analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

Canada and the United States were neck and neck in early Saturday afternoon in the percentage of people fully vaccinated, according to data from country governments. So far, 18,286,671 Canadians, or 48.65%, have been fully immunized, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, compared to 160,686,378, or 48.4%, of Americans, according to CDC data. .

“I don’t think we’ve seen the worst”

Local authorities continue to sound the alarm bells on the increase in cases, especially among the unvaccinated. Twenty states have fully immunized more than half of their residents, according to the CDC, but health facility resources are depleted in states with fewer immunizations.

Only a quarter of residents of Mobile County, Alabama, are fully vaccinated, Commissioner Merceria Ludgood said at a press conference on Friday. And now the county is seeing a massive increase in hospitalizations, according to Dr Laura Cepeda, chief medical officer of the Mobile County Department of Health, who said there had been a 400% increase in hospitalizations over the course of the year. last month.

Mayor Sandy Stimpson encouraged those who have been vaccinated to speak with their loved ones and neighbors.

“Today we have sports heroes, we have rock stars, we have movie stars, coaches encouraging people all over the country to get vaccinated,” Stimpson said. “But if you’ve been vaccinated, don’t underestimate your ability to contact someone and encourage them to do so. You can be that person to convince them it’s the right thing to do.”

State health officials on Friday announced a TikTok competition to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among people aged 13 to 29. Participants are invited to submit a video that shows them getting vaccinated and a message explaining why they chose to do so. . Four winners will be chosen to receive a $ 250 Visa gift card, officials said.

Darrell Hudson, principal of AH Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama, said CNN school officials don’t know how many of their students are vaccinated and “some are still a little concerned about taking the vaccine and its content”. But he hopes the students will get vaccinated, along with their families, so they can safely return to class on August 2.

“We don’t want a child to come to our campus, take the virus home to parents, grandparents, aunts and loved ones,” Hudson said.

Katie Towns, acting director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department in Missouri, told CNN on Friday that the department is requesting an alternative care site and staff from the state to deal with the growing number of cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations, saying: “This is at a level we have never seen before”,

“The most striking are the demographics and the age,” she said of the COVID-19 patients, “almost all” unvaccinated. “The disease has really gone from an older population… to 20, 30, 40 years old in hospital and in need of intensive care and oxygen.”

And hospitals and health officials are forecasting an increase in the number after the July 4 vacation.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the worst,” Towns said.

The return of the mask directives

But even in areas with higher vaccination rates, authorities are starting to reinstate security protocols like mask warrants to try to curb the spread.

San Francisco Bay Area health officials announced Friday that they recommend that everyone wear masks indoors. This follows news this week from Los Angeles County, which will reinstate its indoor mask mandate on Saturday night for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

George Metsos, owner of Patys Restaurant in Los Angeles, told CNN the mask mandates are confusing and the changing guidelines aren’t helping.

“They say follow the science. Well, they said don’t wear masks if you are vaccinated. Now put on the mask if you are vaccinated,” Metsos said. “I have to protect my customers, I have to protect my employees and I have to follow the rules, but I am very in touch with the American public: they are very frustrated.”

Amid growing concern, local authorities “have the discretion to go the extra mile or go the extra step necessary to ensure that the spread of this virus is truly contained,” Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the ‘National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NBC Nightly News told. “And they do it by saying that everyone should wear a mask.”

Unvaccinated healthcare workers cause staffing problems

While health officials have preached the need for Americans to get vaccinated, one industry also faces a growing crisis with unvaccinated workers: healthcare.

University of Florida Health Jacksonville Hospital, for example, is experiencing staffing issues due to unvaccinated staff and is seeing a slight increase in hospitalizations from COVID-19, according to Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention.

Hospital staff – they’ve seen a 50% increase in COVID-19 admissions in the past two weeks – are becoming a big deal, Neilsen noted, as unvaccinated staff are exposed and contract COVID-19 in addition to suffering professional burnout. According to the director, there is only about 52% vaccine compliance among UF Health Jacksonville employees.

“Unvaccinated employees appear to take longer to recover and return to work,” Neilsen said, as the hospital considers suspending elective surgeries.

According to an AARP analysis, only 56% of healthcare workers in nursing homes are fully immunized, according to an AARP analysis, which indicates that only one in five nursing homes meet the goal of industry to have 75% of staff fully immunized.

Nationally, many more residents than staff are fully immunized, according to the analysis. While the number of nursing home deaths declined dramatically after the vaccine was deployed, AARP attributed a third of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States during the pandemic to residents and staff of nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

The Association of American Medical Colleges on Friday urged its member institutions to require COVID-19 vaccinations for employees to protect patients and healthcare workers, as the Delta variant circulates.

“Across the country, we are seeing growing evidence that currently unvaccinated people continue to be at high risk of contracting COVID-19 and constitute the overwhelming majority of new hospitalizations,” the president of the hospital said on Friday. AAMC, Dr. David Sorkin.

“Yet we have tragically lost healthcare workers to the coronavirus, while others have taken the infection home to their families,” Sorkin said. “Vaccination of health workers in our member establishments saves lives.

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