As COVID numbers surge among unvaccinated individuals, health officials in New Orleans are seriously considering capacity restrictions for festivals and sporting events. State Health Officer Dr. Joe Kanter said we need to concentrate on reversing the surge as soon as possible, and 94-percent of the COVID cases since May, are among those unvaccinated.
“So, we’re in the surge now, people are getting sick and it’s getting worse every day, we’ve not yet come close to hitting the top of this,” said Kanter.
As opposed to previous COVID surges, Kanter said this one is preventable, and the vaccination rate must increase. Kanter acknowledges there have been breakthrough cases, but overall, it is rare, however, Kanter said as the variant spreads, breakthrough cases will only increase.
“When you have a vaccine that’s 94 to 95 percent effective, that’s tremendous but it’s not absolute, you still leave some percentage of risk out there,” said Kanter.
Research indicates 70 to 80-percent of the population should be fully vaccinated in order to curtail the pandemic. As for the Bayou State, Kanter said Louisiana along with other states are failing to hit the mark.
“We’re just below 40 percent, so we have a long ways to go, us and states like us, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, which have not done a great job getting everyone vaccinated,” said Kanter.
On Tuesday COVID hospitalizations hit 454, an uptick of 44 from the previous day. For a listing of vaccination sites, visit the Louisiana Department of Health’s website.
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