July 12, 2021
On Saturday, ADPH reported an undercount of the new cases in Alabama. Instead of 1,160 new cases, as reported on Friday, July 9, there were actually 1,694 new cases, or 534 more than previously reported. Today, ADPH added 610 more new cases. As a result, the daily average for the last 10 days is 392 new cases per day. For the last 5 days, the situation is worse, as the State has averaged 462 new cases per day. Aside from days when there were backlogs, the last time Alabama had a higher 7-day moving average of new cases was March 22, 2021.
How does Alabama compare to the rest of the nation? In the US over the last week, new daily reported cases rose 49.3%. During this same period in Alabama, new cases rose 187.2%, the 2nd highest rate of increase in the nation (behind only Tennessee). Meanwhile, Covid-related hospitalizations in Alabama rose 17.8% last week, while average daily Covid deaths doubled - from 3 to 6 deaths per day. Alabama now has the 7th highest per capita death rate since the start of the pandemic, having surpassed Connecticut for the first time last week.
It should not be surprising that Alabama also has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated residents in the entire United States (33.3%). Even Mississippi is higher (33.4%). If Alabama were a country, it would rank 40th in the world in vaccinations - tied with Estonia. Even Turkey has a higher percentage of partially vaccinated residents than Alabama (45.3% to 40.6%).
The country of El Salvador has the highest homicide rate in the world. In 2020, over 15,000 people fled that country, seeking asylum in the US, Mexico & Spain. Even with its deep legacy of corruption and dysfunction, El Salvador has vaccinated a higher percentage of its population (at least one dose) than 23 of Alabama’s 67 counties, including Blount, DeKalb, Chilton and Russell counties. At a time when most citizens of the world are desperately seeking protection from the deadly Delta variant, vaccines are going unused here in Alabama, primarily due to fear, misinformation and misguided ideologies.
Why should this matter to someone who has received an approved vaccine? After all, the Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines have proven highly effective in protecting against all known variants, including Delta. It matters because unvaccinated people do more than merely risk their own health. They're a risk to everyone with whom they come in contact because the only source of new coronavirus variants is the body of an infected person. According to William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt, "Unvaccinated people are variant factories. The more unvaccinated people there are, the more opportunities for the virus to multiply.”
What will it take to alter our current reckless path? Alabama is the nation’s largest “variant factory”; as such, will the next strain of virus be known as the “Alabama Variant” throughout the world? How do you suppose that might impact economic development in our State? The totals:
6/28 - 517
6/30 - 532
7/2 - 315
7/7 - 1,613
7/9 - 1,160
7/10 - 534
7/12 - 610