July 14, 2021
ADPH added 1,398 new cases in Alabama since its last report on Monday (reminder: ADPH has scaled back and now reports only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). That’s an average of about 700 new cases per day and a 7-day moving average of 529 cases per day. Aside from days when there were backlogs, those are numbers last seen in mid-March of this year. There is little doubt that infection rates are on the upswing in Alabama.
The Alabama Hospital Association also disclosed there are currently 341 confirmed patients statewide in Alabama, more than twice the 168 in-patients reported on June 20. All of this confirms what we’re seeing throughout the country - a Delta-fueled surge has begun. As Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the FDA, said, “"Unfortunately it's going to get worse before it gets better in terms of the spread of this infection right now. [Modeling shows] it will move its way through the country over the course of August and September, maybe into October.”
Derek Moates, lab manager at UAB's Fungal Reference Lab, indicated yesterday that 70% of his lab’s cases are now traceable to Delta. Meanwhile, the CDC has determined that infection and hospitalization rates from Delta are highest among people aged 15 to 45. Although COVID-19 tends to be less serious in children than adults, Dr. Peter Hotez, Director of Texas Children’s Hospital, noted that “up to 30% of children who are infected will develop long-haul COVID”.
Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah School of Medicine, said today that Utah's intensive care units are "again running at above 100% capacity”, due to Delta. "As somebody who takes care of very sick kids, it drives me crazy to hear over and over again that the virus is not serious for children”, said Pavia. “If your child is the one who ends up in the ICU for a week, or if your child develops long COVID and flunks out of a semester of school and doesn't get into college, or loses their athletic scholarship, there's nothing mild about that."
The good news, of course, is that vaccines are effective against all variants, including Delta. The bad news: an average of just 6,000 doses per day were administered statewide in Alabama last week. One dose has now been administered to 2,000,752 Alabamians, covering 40.8% of the State’s entire population. At least 1,638,866 people have been fully vaccinated, or 33.4% of the entire population. While 80% of Alabamians aged 65 and older have received at least one dose, that percentage drops to 43% for adults aged 18 to 64; and only 15% of Alabama adolescents aged 12 to 17 ... less than 1 month before the start of school.
Then again, as bad as it sounds, at least we are not Tennessee. The Volunteer State has witnessed a 118% increase in cases, 200% increase in deaths and 22.3% increase in hospitalizations ... just in the last 7 days! Yet, with 2 million more residents than Alabama, Tennessee is administering only 2,500 more doses per day than our state.
Despite these dire statistics, the State of Tennessee on Monday fired its top-ranking vaccine official, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, amid complaints by state lawmakers angry about the state Department of Health’s outreach efforts to vaccinate teenagers. The Department announced it will cease all such outreach efforts – not just for Covid vaccinations, but ALL diseases. Vaccine outreach at school events will be halted immediately, and the Department will no longer send postcards reminding teenagers to get their second dose. To be clear, the positivity rates and average daily cases in Tennessee have doubled in the last 2 weeks, but the Tennessee Health Department said it is responding to “an intense national conversation that is affecting how many families evaluate vaccinations in general."
Make no mistake. If, after months of watching cases fall and vaccinations rise, this pandemic spirals out of control again, the anti-science politicians and pundits who have knowingly palmed off false information and exploited unfounded fears will bear the responsibility. And children will be the primary victims. When the history of this period is written, there will be and there must be a reckoning. The totals:
6/30 - 532
7/2 - 315
7/7 - 1,613
7/9 - 1,160
7/10 - 534
7/12 - 610
7/14 -1,398
One day this dude is gonna need to find a new hobby that isn’t living and breathing the coronavirus.
So very sad. Continued prayers to all and those who have been misinformed. Thanks for continuing this record and may it never be erased from history. As you said, there will be a reckoning. GOD Bless us all.