WFSA: “Sarah Nafziger, M.D., vice president of UAB Hospital Clinical Services, said Thursday that Alabama now has the highest COVID positivity rate in the country. Nafziger said the reasons are the Delta variant and Alabama’s low vaccination rate. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), Alabama’s percent positive rate is 21.5% as of July 29, 2021. The statewide percentage of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests that were positive during the past seven days was 21.5. According to ADPH, 49,661 COVID-19 tests were performed in the past 7 days in Alabama.”
“Nafziger said people are starting to fill up hospitals again and 97 percent of the people who are being treated for COVID-19 are unvaccinated. The average age of admitted COVID-19 patients is about 55 years old. She said the difference is Alabama’s older population, 65 and older, took the vaccine. That is keeping them out of the hospital. Nafziger said almost every one of the patients in the hospital who did not get the vaccine, now said they wish they had. Nafziger said if case numbers continue to grow, UAB doctors will have to cancel or postpone elective procedures because they will need the beds. ‘To me it’s like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. We have a parachute, why would you jump out of an airplane without a parachute?’ asked Nafziger.”