On Monday, Aug. 30, 77 patients were hospitalized at East Alabama Medical Center and EAMC-Lanier, and 21 of 25 patients in the intensive care unit were on ventilators. 

John Atkinson, spokesperson for East Alabama Health, said in a press release that the all-time peak of 22 patients on ventilators, just one more than current usage, was reached in the period from April 3-5, 2020.

Hospitalizations dropped on Monday from the recent peak of 80 on Sunday. 

Breakdowns of vaccine status among the hospitalized population continues to show that the majority of patients are unvaccinated. On Monday, 62 of 77 hospitalized patients were unvaccinated. 

However, that means that some vaccinated people are being hospitalized for the virus, which Atkinson said other hospitals are seeing, too. 

“The Delta variant is much stronger than the original strain and that lessens the efficacy of the vaccine some,” Atkinson said on Friday. “Plus, most of the vaccinated we’re seeing were among the earliest people to be vaccinated — mostly an older and/or immunocompromised population.”

In the intensive care unit, 21 of 25 COVID-19 patients were unvaccinated on Monday. Three were fully vaccinated, and one was partially vaccinated.

Of the 21 patients on a ventilator, 18 were unvaccinated while two were fully vaccinated and the other patient was partially vaccinated. 

In the update, Atkinson also indicated that the age of COVID patients is trending younger again. One week ago, the age group making up the largest share of those hospitalized was 70-79, at 20. Seventeen patients were under 50.

Now, the most common age groups are 50-59 and 60-69, both at 17. There are now 19 patients under age 50.

Pediatrics

The Pediatric Clinic at EAMC saw a record 272 children test positive for COVID-19 last week, Aug. 23-29.

That number shows the stark difference in how many children have tested positive recently. The Pediatric Clinic has seen more positive COVID cases in the past six weeks than in the previous 41 weeks, Atkinson said.

Positivity rate at the Pediatric Associates of Auburn decreased to 13.8%, down nearly seven percentage points from the previous week.

Vaccinations

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, 43.3% of Lee County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 35.8% have been fully vaccinated. 

The Pediatric Clinic has fully vaccinated 893 children age 12 or older. 

Those looking to receive a COVID-19 vaccine may find a location at Vaccines.gov, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.