COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue rising as health officials combat ‘pandemic of the unvaccinated’

MIAMI – Upwards of 95 percent of COVID-19 patients in South Florida are not vaccinated, according to Jackson Health Systems CEO Carlos Migoya.

He said Sunday that COVID hospitalizations continue to climb.

The dangerous and contagious Delta variant is sweeping the country, leading to more people in hospitals.

Over the past week in Florida, COVID-19 hospitalizations jumped a staggering 65 percent.

A majority of those are people who have not been vaccinated.

Health experts call this surge the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as vaccine hesitancy remains strong in some populations.

“Forty nine percent of our variants are Delta variants in Miami-Dade County, just two months ago it was two percent,” Migoya said, adding the Colombian variant now accounts for 10 percent of Jackson Memorial Covid patients

“Because of the travel between Colombia and Miami,” he added. “Miami is a very different place that gets a lot of these variants in front of us.”

According to the Florida Department of Health, 73,000 new cases were reported in the past week. That’s seven times more than just one month ago.

The surge is prompting conversations within the White House and CDC about another mask wearing guidance, even for those vaccinated.

Migoya said he is hopeful this surge will go down soon, likely within three weeks.

Vaccination rates have actually gone up 14 percent in the past week, according to the White House.

On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Ronald Klain tweeted that there were about 790,000 vaccinations in just 24 hours. Citing the CDC, he said this might be the biggest 24-hour period of vaccinations since early July.

RELATED LINK

Carlos Migoya discusses COVID-19 spike, unvaccinated hospital staff on This Week in South Florida


About the Author
Bridgette Matter headshot

Bridgette Matter joined the Local 10 News team as a reporter in July 2021. Before moving to South Florida, she began her career in South Bend, Indiana and spent six years in Jacksonville as a reporter and weekend anchor.

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