Doctors Concerned As COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Spike In Utah
Jul 13, 2021, 5:06 PM | Updated: Jul 5, 2023, 10:07 am
MURRAY, Utah — State data shows new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have risen sharply over the last month, putting an extra burden on caregivers and healthcare systems.
Doctors with Intermountain Healthcare said the surge is fueled mainly by the Delta variant among unvaccinated people, so they urged residents, including those who had the virus, to get their shot.
“We’re definitely seeing more patients with COVID-19 being admitted to the hospital,” said Dr. Eddie Stenehjem, an infectious diseases physician with Intermountain Healthcare.
New COVID-19 cases have more than doubled in the last six weeks. Utah is now averaging 450 new cases a day, up from 200 on June 1.
On Monday, the Utah Department of Health reported 1,238 new COVID-19 cases from the weekend, up 247 from the same period last week. UDOH also reported 220 hospitalizations, six COVID deaths and a seven-day average COVID positivity rate of 12.3%.
Stenehjem said hospitalizations have doubled in a week at some facilities.
“The vast majority of the patients that are being admitted are in the unvaccinated population,” he said. “So, from a caregiver’s standpoint, that’s really disappointing because these are preventable hospitalizations.”
Preventable because the vaccines are highly effective against severe illness, hospitalization and death. But only 45% of all Utahns are fully vaccinated and only 50% have received at least one dose, even after doctors warned about a surge a week ago.
“We have not seen a significant uptick in vaccinations yet,” Stenehjem said.
He also urged those who had COVID-19 but have not been vaccinated to get their shot.
While those who had the virus develop antibodies against it, he said that immune response is not as reliable as vaccination.
“When you look at those that are infected with COVID-19, the body’s immune response to that infection is incredibly variable,” the doctor said.
He said some have a high-level antibody response, while others have a low-level antibody response.
“That variability leads to then variability of risk for reinfection,” said Stenehjem.
Emerging data on the vaccines also shows greater effectiveness against variants than natural illness, according to the infectious diseases doctor.
“We know that the vaccination leads to a much more reliable vaccine response as compared to natural infection,” he said. “And we anticipate it’s going to lead to a more durable response. It’s going to last longer.”
The more people get vaccinated, the less community transmission there will be, Stenehjem said. As long as there are areas in the United States and globally with high rates of transmission and low rates of vaccination, variants will continue to mutate and emerge.
