News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County has seen an increase in vaccinations over the past three weeks, after seeing rates drop in June.
As of last week 38 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, 42 percent have at least one dose. Upper Cumberland Regional Medical Director for The Tennessee Department of Health Don Grisham said this is encouraging as the more contagious Delta Variant spreads.
Grisham said there are predictions that the worst is still to come.
“Some people are predicting that it may not peak until October,” Grisham said. “So Putnam County is considered a county with a high transmission rate. When we check people to see if they’re positive for COVID or not positive for COVID, a month ago two percent of people were positive for COVID. Now, over 12 percent are positive for COVID.”
Grisham said the vaccine is proving to be highly effective against the Delta Variant. He said if 100 people are admitted to the hospital for COVID, 98 of those have not been vaccinated.
Grisham said if 100 people die from COVID, 98 of those deaths will be people who did not get vaccinated.
“I know of a couple who got the COVID infection towards the first of July,” Grisham said. “The husband had been vaccinated months earlier and the wife had chosen not to be vaccinated. The husband had mild symptoms, he recovered at home. His wife became very sick with pneumonia related to COVID and she died at the hospital from COVID.”
Grisham said that while this has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated. He said there is a strong case for people who are vaccinated to follow CDC guidelines and continue wearing a mask at inside public gatherings.
“Since I’m vaccinated, I can still catch the COVID virus from someone and may have only mild symptoms,” Grisham said. “But because the virus will stay in the nasal passages even in someone vaccinated, I could pass the COVID virus to someone who may not have been vaccinated and they could become terribly sick from exposure to me. So I’m wearing a mask now, not only to protect myself but to protect others from me.”
Grisham said 80 percent of new cases are from the Delta Variant, which is affecting people at younger ages. He said there are 1,000 times more viral particles in the nasal passage with the Delta Variant.
