The state marked a milestone with less than 100 hospitalized with COVID this week, a mark that LSU Infectious Disease expert Dr. Catherine O’Neal said in addition to a lull in cases gives the medical community a much-deserved break But with only 53% of the state’s population vaccinated, O’Neal said that lull could easily change.
“And in some regions as low as 30% of people are vaccinated right now, which is not enough to prepare for the next surge,” said O’Neal.
O’Neal said the key ingredient to returning to a life where we don’t have to keep up with case counts is prevention. And the best form of prevention is being fully vaccinated. O’Neal said after a year of vaccine availability, there are no significant long-term side effects from the vaccine and it’s still the best form of preventing a severe case of COVID.
“And those people who were in the clinical trials we have two years of data that show the only long-term side effect you have from vaccinations is protection,” said O’Neal.
As cases are on the uptick in China, thus prompting another lockdown, O’Neal said it’s not a matter of if COVID cases will surge again in Louisiana but when.
“You’re going to see COVID come back into this community again and start to increase in the number. How that surge looks now is totally up to us,” said O’Neal.
For more information about the COVID vaccines, you can visit the Louisiana Department of Health’s website along with Vaccines.gov.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health, 34-hundred people in the state last week received their first shot.
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