ATLANTA — Doctor are urging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine because hospital beds are filling up across metro Atlanta.
The leading metro Atlanta health systems held a joint news conference Thursday morning and have one message for their communities: Please get the COVID-19 vaccine.
They gathered in front of Mercedes-Benz Stadium they said because every Falcons and Atlanta United player has been vaccinated. It’s the message they wanted to get out to the community.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
The doctors, from some of the state’s largest hospital systems want Georgian’s to get vaccinated. They want everyone to understand that the Delta variant is not only affecting older people or people with pre-existing conditions.
“The virus no longer makes the distinction based on illness based on age or even ethnicity,” Dr. Danny Branstatter of Wellstar Hospitals said. “What we’re seeing is the virus drawing a distinction between those who are vaccinated and those who are unvaccinated.”
“We are seeing a significantly greater impact on our children,” said Dr. Jim Fortenberry with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “In our teams, we’re seeing more COVID-19 positive patients in our emergency department, urgent care centers and hospitals, than any other time in the pandemic.”
The doctors say their hospitals are overflowing with people infected with Coronavirus. They said they are not turning patients away, but said they’re having an increasingly hard time caring for everyone who comes in.
All of them say the Delta variant is not like the original strain of COVID-19. The variant is attacking young people as well.
RELATED STORIES:
- Longtime Gwinnett County science teacher dies of COVID-19
- Hundreds of thousands of expired COVID-19 vaccine doses thrown out in Georgia this year
- 2 metro Atlanta firefighters die from COVID-19 complications
With less than half of Georgia residents fully vaccinated, these local doctors say this most recent “wave” of the virus will peak somewhere around Labor Day. They said the hospitals are already full, now.
“Our hospitals are once again filling up with young people and all people and those with comorbidities who have not been vaccinated,” said Branstetter. “Over 90% 92% of our hospitalizations are unvaccinated including those in our ICU’s. 60% of our ICU patients are those who are on vaccinated and have COVID-19. This is a huge number. Where’s and we’re seeing this peek rise very very quickly and rising to match or exceed the peaks we saw in the winter.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
This browser does not support the video element.