The “overwhelming majority” of sufferers hospitalized at Tufts Medical Heart with severe COVID-19 instances are unvaccinated, hospital officers stated Wednesday, prompting Mayor Michelle Wu to warn that the pattern makes well being care harder to entry for everybody else.
“Gaps in vaccination charges are affecting everybody,” Wu advised reporters after touring Tufts Medical Heart and assembly with the hospital’s employees. “If you’re trying to get a hip alternative, in case you have another process that has been bothering you however isn’t an emergency, these are getting pushed again and we’re seeing the ripple results on everybody as we drag this out with out closing vaccination charges.”
The hospital’s leaders warned that the newest COVID-19 surge fueled by the omicron variant has created a “good storm” as an already-strained system now has to deal with rising case counts and staffing shortages.
Helen Boucher, an infectious illness professional and interim dean of Tufts College College of Medication, stated “most” sufferers admitted with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
For these sick sufficient to go to the intensive care unit, Boucher stated “the overwhelming majority, virtually 90 p.c,” haven’t acquired a vaccine towards the virus.
“The primary factor you are able to do for your self, your loved ones and the group is to get that vaccine,” Boucher stated. “We all know that the booster and the vaccine stop towards severe sickness or dying, and that’s going to assist us be capable to look after the sufferers who want us — these with COVID and people with different issues.”
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