Olive Hill’s great-grandmother, Kentucky, 66, said she and her husband discussed the vaccine, but continued to postpone it and eventually decided against it. I couldn’t explain why.
Middleton spoke to CNN on Wednesday when he was receiving a high flow of oxygen, saying he believed he got Covid-19 from his granddaughter who became ill. The virus spread to everyone in their home.
Middleton is getting better now and now encourages his family, along with other people, to get a shot. He cried talking to CNN on Wednesday, explaining that he thought he would die if he had to be put on a fan. Through tears, he also deeply thanked the medical staff and explained the support his church had during his time of need.
“By the grace of God, he is the one who brought me here. God has brought me where I am right now and I praise him,” he said in the hospital bed, crying, adding that he hopes the message that people receive from its history is not to take the vaccine, but to know “there is a God and without him I would not be here today.”
Feelings like Middleton’s are common in Appalachia, a region that runs from southern New York to northern Alabama and Georgia, where many people do not believe or hesitate to get vaccinated, according to medical professionals who spoke to CNN. .
Due to this hesitation, Covid-19 has spread to Kentucky, where nearly every 120 counties in the state are in the “red” zone of Covid-19 and hospitals are about to overflow. , according to Governor Andy Beshear.
A hospital exceeds 130% capacity
One of these hospitals, the St. Louis Regional Medical Center. Claire in Morehead, about 65 miles east of Lexington, is one of the hardest hit by the influx of Covid-19 patients. It is the largest medical center serving 11 counties in northeastern Kentucky and is currently 130% above capacity, according to the St. John’s CEO. Claire Health Care, Donald Lloyd.
“I think it’s an increase in fear now and these people are afraid of a vaccine that could save their lives, and that’s why they’re now in the hospital,” said Dr. William Melah, St. John’s chief medical officer. Claire Health Care.
About 85 percent to 88 percent of patients are not vaccinated, Melah said.
“It’s like we’re in a war against this virus,” said Courtney Hollingsworth, a Covid-19 ICU nurse in St. Louis. Claire. “We’re not at war with each other, you know, their beliefs and stuff. It’s really a war with this virus.”
The hospital had to close three operating rooms to expand the ICU’s bed space, Beshear said.
As a result, it has become a problem for regular patients who want to attend emergency rooms, Melah said. Some have to wait about a possible 24 hours to receive care or until someone gets better or dies, he said.
The governor said he has deployed a team of nurses on strike in Santa Claire along with a couple of dozen National Guard members to help with the influx of patients, but staff say it may not be enough. .
“We could get double the number of doctors out there,” Lloyd said.
The increase also destroys the spirit for hospital staff.
“It’s defeat putting someone else on the ventilator,” said Joelle Craft, a Covid-19 ICU nurse. “It’s defeating putting someone else in prone position or paralyzing them or seeing them get more test tubes. It’s defeating seeing the health care providers I care about or being next to the bed when someone dies alone. Also it’s defeating looking at someone else to put in a body bag, ”he said.
Dr. Cory Yoder, a family medicine physician from St. Claire said she had to get a couple of nurses out of the hallway and into a room alone because they broke down crying for her patients.
“They just feel like there’s no hope and they’re not our ICU nurses,” Yoder told CNN.
The state of emergency lasted until January 2022
As a result of the rise, Kentucky lawmakers voted Tuesday to extend the state of emergency, which was due to expire on Friday, through Jan. 15, 2022.
The increase in cases illustrates that large urban hospitals are not the only ones bombing patients, Beshear said. “These are regional hospitals that don’t normally treat incredibly sick patients who are full of these sick patients,” he said.
Asked if doctors and hospitals were getting to the point of rationing care, the governor said the state is still able to move patients from one hospital to another.
“But we’re fine right now or we’re getting close quickly,” he said.
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian, Kristina Sgueglia, Liam Reilly, Mirna Alsharif and Kiely Westhoff contributed to this report.