Despite the increase in COVID-19 cases, a health organization in South Carolina is about to deal with life-saving vaccines in the coming months.
If not vaccinated, nearly 100,000 doses of vaccine may expire in the fall.
Dr. Rick Scott, chair of the Prisma Health Vaccination Working Group, said in a media conference call on July 28: “We want to run out of this supply, not see this happen. We want demand.”
Prisma Health is the largest non-profit health organization in South Carolina. Palmetto Health and Greenville Health System merged in 2017 to form Prisma Health.
Currently, there are more than 1,500 suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded on July 23. The average number of new cases in South Carolina over 7 days is more than 1,200. In the same conference call, Dr. Helmut Albrecht stated that almost all new cases in South Carolina are caused by delta mutations.
“The spread of Delta variants is doubling every week,” Albrecht said. “The more than 50 viruses sequenced by the School of Pharmacy at the University of South Carolina this month and the vast majority of viruses hospitalized across the state are made up of variants of respiratory viruses.”
He also talked about people who have not been vaccinated and how they are mainly affected by the new mutant strains.
“Almost all hospitalizations and deaths occurred in people who were not vaccinated,” Albrecht said. “But the Delta variant will not only lead to more vaccine breakthroughs. Although these breakthroughs are usually mild to moderate, it can produce enough virus in the vaccinated population to cause symptomatic infections, which means that if You can spread this virus by sneezing or coughing. This is very clear.”
“We ask people to wear masks, not to protect themselves, but to protect others,” Albrecht added.
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As of Wednesday, Prisma Health has treated more than 100 COVID-19 patients. Most of these people are not vaccinated. The health care system in the Spartanburg region has treated 46 COVID-19 patients. Among them, 43 patients were not vaccinated.
On July 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated that all Americans, even those who were vaccinated, should continue to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We are not unprepared for COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield. “Cloth masks are one of our most powerful weapons to slow down and prevent the spread of the virus-especially when they are commonly used in a community environment.”
“All Americans have a responsibility to protect themselves, their families and communities,” he added.
