PAINESVILLE, Ohio — Data from the Ohio Department of Health points to a recent rise in vaccinations across the state.
The trend comes as the CDC announced Tuesdayrecommendations that even those vaccinated should wear masks indoors where the virus is surging, and as concerns over mutations of the virus including the delta variant contribute to a recent rise in cases and hospitalizations, including in Ohio.
Almost a year and a half into the pandemic, and one thing remains the same for Dr. Sachin Patel.
“Every patient I typically see who requires hospitalization for COVID-19 at this time has not received the vaccine,” he said.
Patel also serves as the medical director for Lake County General Health District, a health department helping push Lake County to second in the state when it comes to percent of the population vaccinated.
“We have seen vaccination numbers increase,” he added.
Datafrom the Ohio Department of Health shows statewide new vaccinations climbing over the last month, going from an average of a couple thousand a day to nearly 10,000 new vaccinations a day.
“Even though cases have fallen,the current rise does mean people are still at risk and that probably pushed some people who might have been on the fence to get vaccinated,” Patel said.
Below are up-to-date charts showing the number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio:
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ohio:
COVID-19 deaths in Ohio:
As the COVID-19 vaccine has become widely available to all Americans, the head of the CDC has stated that the coronavirus outbreak "is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated." Statistics just released by the Ohio Department of Health validate that claim.
Of the 6,846 total deaths caused by COVID-19 that occurred in Ohio from Jan 1., 2021 to July 21, 2021, 6,812 of them have been among individuals who were not reported to be fully vaccinated, according to data provided to News 5 by the ODH. That means that 99.5% of the people who died from COVID-19 in Ohio this year were unvaccinated.
“Even if you don’t get COVID today, tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, given how contagious the new variants are, it’s very likely sometime in the next one or two years during these waves of infection that every individual is likely to catch it,” Dr. Patel explained. “The question is when you catch it, are you going to be someone protected or someone who has no inherent protection to the virus?”
To find a vaccination site in Lake County through the health department, click here.
RELATED: 99.5% of Ohioans who have died from COVID this year were unvaccinated