The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
SOUND THE ALARM
Picente urges the unvaccinated to get their shots amid rising cases and hospitalizations
UTICA, N.Y. >> If there was one thing Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente wanted listeners to take away from his COVID press briefing on Thursday, it’s this: get vaccinated.
The impromptu meeting was spurred by steadily rising COVID-19 cases in Oneida County that reached a crescendo worth addressing. On Thursday, the county reported 97 new COVID cases in a single day, the highest number recorded since January 29, 2021.
The county is also averaging 64 new cases per day, the highest average since early February. Of the new COVID cases, in July, 75% were unvaccinated, and in August, that number is so far 73%. That’s approximately 2/3rd of cases in the past two months being connected to those who are unvaccinated.
It’s important to note, Picente said, that this number isn’t suggesting that breakthrough COVID cases in the vaccinated are high. Of the entire vaccinated population, about 98% of them have not contracted COVID, Picente said.
If the positive case data isn’t enough to sound the alarm to go get vaccinated, Picente referenced hospitalization data that told an unnerving tale. Since January 1, which is around when vaccinations were picking up, 27 fully vaccinated people have needed hospital care. In the same time period, 258 non-vaccinated people have been
“As we look at the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations as a whole, only .02% of people have ended up in the hospital.” — Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente
hospitalized with COVID-19.
“As we look at the vaccinated vs. unvaccinated populations as a whole,” Picente explained, “only .02% of people have ended up in the hospital.”
Altogether, unvaccinated county residents are four times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 80 times more likely to be hospitalized because of the virus, according to Picente.
There are also currently three pregnant women in the hospital with COVID, Picente reported. “They don’t have to be.”
The rising case numbers are particularly concerning with school just around the corner. According to a county report, 165 children under the age of 17 have tested positive in Oneida County in the month of August, at a time when they are not attending school. Children under age 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination, either. Putting them together in a classroom at this time is definitely cause for concern, Picente said.
As all of this is happening, there is also “hostility” and “anger” being conveyed by some parents towards school boards and other groups trying to keep school children safe with mask mandates, Picente said. This behavior is not helpful, he remarked.
“You’re a parent, I would think you want your child safe. The safest they can be,” he said.
“Masks do work.” The county executive remarked at one point in the briefing. “Stop telling me that the science says otherwise.”
Masking up at this time county-wide is strongly encouraged, Picente said. He hasn’t instilled a mandate yet. He said he doesn’t want to have to take that action if he doesn’t have to, but he will.
“The actions that will bring these numbers down are in your hands,” he said.
The average age of positive cases currently stands at 37 years old. That’s a group that’s been predominately hesitant to get the vaccine, Picente said.
Typically, the younger the age group, the less likely they are to get vaccinated, he said. Between the ages of 25 and 40 have been particularly hard to convince. College-age people have been a bit of an outlier, as most who are attending school are complying with campus vaccination mandates. This puts Picente at ease when it comes to the idea of COVID spread at college, he said.
Oneida County Health Director Dan Gilmore commented on the need for masks at this time even for the vaccinated. “The reality is this delta variant is a little more aggressive. It’s more contagious. And what finding is that the delta variant is creating more breakthrough cases.” Vaccinated individuals also have the potential to spread this variant to others, particularly the non-vaccinated.
Vaccinated people are well protected against hospitalization if they do contract the virus, Gilmore said.
What about those who have already had COVID-19 and are hoping for antibody protection instead of protection from the vaccine? “The best thing they can do is get the vaccine anyway,” Gilmore said. Their natural immunity is hard to track, and depending on the severity of each person’s case, may not be long-lasting at all. The vaccine is the most guaranteed protection.
Oneida County Department of Health will again return to reporting COVID-19 cases daily beginning Monday.
“Look what we went through a year ago—we are heading there again,” Picente said. “It is not fallacy. It is fact.”
Upcoming vaccination clinics
Tuesday, August 31, at Slocum Dickson Ambulatory Center
Wednesday, September 1 and Thursday, September 2, at Utica State Office Building
Friday, September 3, at Oneida County Health Department Rome Clinic
Visit ocgov.net to schedule an appointment. Booster shot clinics are being scheduled for the near future.