‘This is preventable.’ Macon hospitals plead with community to get COVID-19 vaccine

The leaders of the three major hospitals in Middle Georgia came together in an unprecedented joint press conference to urge members of the community to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Healthcare leaders called the press conference as a fourth wave of the coronavirus has hospitals in the area at capacity.

Houston Healthcare President Charles Briscoe, Piedmont Macon CEO Stephen Daugherty, the Atrium Navicent Health President Delvecchio Finley and Macon-Bibb County Health Department Administrator Dr. Jimmie Smith came together to deliver a plea for Middle Georgians to get a vaccine.

“We are not here today to have a political debate. We are not here today to debate the pros and cons and all the rhetoric that is out there,” Briscoe said. “Today is about what we see in our local community. And what we see consistently is those individuals that are unvaccinated are at great risk of severe hospitalization and at great risk of death. What we are seeing is preventable.”

Houston Healthcare currently has 84 coronavirus positive patients; 26 of those in the ICU and 11 of those on ventilators. Seventy-three of the 84 are unvaccinated, in the ICU all but two patients are unvaccinated and all of the patients on ventilators are unvaccinated.

Piedmont (formerly Coliseum) has more than 70 COVID-19 patients between its two hospitals in Macon after reporting zero in July . Daugherty noted the tragic nature people, including healthcare workers, who have died from COVID-19.

“This is preventable. We don’t need to be here,” Daugherty said. “In the first three waves, we had people cheering for us and we appreciated that. We had people praying for us and we appreciated that. But I want to tell the community what one of our nurses told the media yesterday, what you can do for us now is get vaccinated. We don’t need meals, we don’t need personal protective gear, we don’t need ventilators. We need our community to come together and protect each other.”

The numbers at the Atrium Health Navicent Medical Center show a similar pattern to other hospitals in the area. The vast majority of patients are unvaccinated. There is also a pattern of younger patients funneling into the hospitals in this wave, according Atrium’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Patricia Walker.

Finley asked that younger people in the community who are eligible for the vaccine get it.

Finley also said everyone should be concerned for children who are unable to get the vaccine. He said more children are hospitalized at the Beverly Knight Children’s Hospital and the hospital has expanded immediate care capabilities for these children.

“We are seeing today that this delta variant is much more impactful to kids than any prior version of COVID-19,” Finley said. “It is trending more towards younger adults as well. We need you to do what is right for you, your friends, your family, your neighbors and people you don’t know; you can get the vaccine and continue to practice COVID safe behavior.”

Forty-seven percent of residents in Georgia have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 41% are fully vaccinated. In Bibb and Houston counties, 40% of residents have received at least one dose and 35% are fully vaccinated.Georgia ranks in the bottom 10 states in vaccination rate, according to the New York Times

Over the past 14 days, Georgia has seen a 128% increase in hospitalizations with a daily average of 3,712 and 116% increase in positive cases with a daily average of 5,411. In Bibb County, there has been a 191% increase in cases and a 171% increase in hospitalizations.

Dr. Jimmie Smith with the Macon-Bibb County Health Department pleaded with residents in Middle Georgia to get the vaccine.

“We believe we would be in an even lesser position if not for our vaccine outreach from local hospitals, community groups and public health over the last seven months,” Smith said. “Please get vaccinated against COVID-19. Let me say that again, please get vaccinated against COVID-19.”

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 2:11 PM.