FOX5 EXPERTS: Health official urges hesitant population to get vaccinated against COVID-19
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Dr. Shadaba Asad is an infectious disease specialist working with University Medical Center and the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.
Dr. Asad reports a growing number of COVID-19 patients at UMC. Of the 75 patients admitted last Wednesday, 70 were unvaccinated and 20 required ICU attention. Five were vaccinated and all five were immunosuppressed. The vaccinated group is doing “much better than the rest of them,” she said.
She said a new Kaiser study identifies what she calls “the swing vote” in this race to get people vaccinated. The study identified a significant number of vaccine-hesitant patients who are in a “wait and see group.” Dr. Asad said those are the people the medical community needs to focus on.
She said the medical community needs to approach those people without judgement and patiently answer their questions, and not make them feel guilty about their choices. She feels enough of them could be persuaded to make a real difference in the vaccination numbers.
Dr. Asad said the delta variant isn’t going anywhere as long as there is a host out there unvaccinated. She said her greatest fear is this large unvaccinated population will allow for new, more transmissible and more virulent variants.
Everything on the horizon now can be treated or protected against by the vaccines. But if this huge chunk of unvaccinated continues, it is just a matter of time until we see a variant where these treatments are not effective and the vaccines are not effective.
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