Alabama healthcare providers are expected to be watching the state’s COVID-19 caseload closely.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington State said Alabama’s COVID-19 caseload will peak on Wednesday. The state is predicted to hit close to sixteen thousand coronavirus cases.
State health officer Scott Harris said Alabama still lags behind the rest of the nation for vaccination, despite a recent uptick in people rolling up their sleeves.
“It’s frustrating to see our numbers going this way, after all the work people have been doing in the past year and a half,” Harris said. “And, I don’t just mean people in public health or people in health care. After all the work ordinary Alabamians have done, trying to the right thing."
Some rural counties in Alabama have barely 20 percent of their populations immunized against COVID-19.
The state also reports that a lot of unused vaccine has expired. Alabama lost almost 50,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine, 11,000 Moderna doses, and 7,000 shots of the Johnson and Johnson product.
Harris said people aren’t instantly protected against COVID-19 just because they decide to get their shots.
“Remember, if you go get vaccinated today, and we hope you will, it’s going to be somewhere around five or six weeks before you can be fully protected,” he said. “That’s because your first dose today means a second dose in three to four weeks, and then a c ouple of more weeks after that to realize full immunity.”
Alabama health officials think about 95 percent of the state’s COVID cases are among unvaccinated people. The Centers for Disease Control believes almost all of the current COVID-19 infections involve the so called delta variant, which is more contagious that the original strain.
