The state marks a milestone as the health department reported the lowest number of Louisianans hospitalized with COVID since March 2020. On Monday 271 were in the hospital with COVID and State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said the majority of those patients have not been vaccinated.
“The average age of people who are hospitalized has gone down a little bit particularly as more and more elderly individuals get vaccinated,” said Kanter.
Kanter said over two-thirds of Louisianans 65 and older are fully vaccinated. And because the average age of those in the hospital is decreasing so are fatalities.
He admits there have been some breakthrough cases, those who have been fully vaccinated but still catch COVID but said overwhelmingly being vaccinated is your best protection.
The number of those patients in the hospital on ventilators is 29, and Kantar said placing someone on a respirator with COVID is a severe intervention and is a last-ditch effort.
“Once you get put on a ventilator for COVID you’ve got about a 50% chance of surviving that hospitalization, so it is a severe marker,” said Kanter.
The state also reported the first two cases of the COVID variant dominant in India in Caddo Parish last week. Kanter said the two individuals did not travel out of the country so it is indicative that there are more cases of the variant in the state.
“And importantly neither of these two individuals are vaccinated. That is the lesson right there. The vaccine remains the best defense against these variants and any variants down the road,” said Kanter.
Kanter said approximately 35-percent of residents have initiated or completed their vaccine series in the state, well below the national average.
Comments