As hospital beds and ICUs reach capacity across many communities in the Southern United States, local healthcare systems continue to share easy-to-understand infographics on social media as a way to demonstrate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. The takeaway message, like the graphics themselves, is simple and straightforward: Get vaccinated if you want to stay out of the hospital.
Southern states including Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama have some of the highest hospitalization rates in the country, according to the latest tracking data from the New York Times, leaving medical centers and the people who work for them overwhelmed in the wake of the highly transmissible delta variant.
Vaccination rates remain stubbornly low in many communities, prompting local healthcare systems to share updates about their current bed capacity along with the percentage of their patients who are unvaccinated. Here are a few examples:
Alabama
According to a tweet from the Alabama Hospital Association, 84% of its adult COVID-19 inpatients were unvaccinated as of September 6.
COVID-19 hospitalizations for Monday, Sept. 6 pic.twitter.com/FrECOU8v8y
— Alabama Hospital Association (@ALhospitals) September 6, 2021
Florida
A tweet from Broward County’s Memorial Healthcare System said that 85% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated as of the end of last month.
The facts are in the numbers. Do your part to keep your family and community as safe and healthy as possible. #GetVaccinated. pic.twitter.com/M3LJkKliw9
— Memorial Healthcare System (@mhshospital) August 31, 2021
Georgia
The Northeast Georgia Health System tweeted on August 31 that 242 of its 288 COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated.
Take a look at our latest COVID-19 daily stats at: https://t.co/iYpIjUnUjM. We hope our COVID data helps you understand the impact of COVID-19 and vaccinations in our community. pic.twitter.com/k2mu3snAEJ
— NGHS (@myNGHS) August 31, 2021
Mississippi
The University of Mississippi Medical Center tweeted on Monday that only 16.4% of its COVID-19 inpatients are fully vaccinated.
As of 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 6, UMMC has 120 confirmed or suspected inpatient COVID-19 cases, with 100 adults and 20 children. Of the COVID positive patients, 71.7% are unvaccinated, 11.9% are not eligible for the vaccine (under 12 years old), and 16.4% are vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/D1ALWUFaSk
— The University of Mississippi Medical Center (@UMMCnews) September 6, 2021
South Carolina
The Lexington Medical Center tweeted on Monday that 173 out of 191 hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.
COVID-19 hospitalizations on September 6, 2021.
For detailed information on COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and visitation restrictions, visit https://t.co/glsy5R06qv. pic.twitter.com/VE1y7saQ6b
— Lexington Medical (@LexMedCtr) September 6, 2021
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