Tracking the spread of COVID-19 has become difficult since the end of an official public health emergency declaration and the introduction of at-home COVID testing. However, hospital admissions for COVID-19 remain a useful indicator for estimating the risk present within a given geographic area.
Pharmacists should keep a careful eye on hospital admission trends ahead of the upcoming fall season. According to the latest data reported by the New York Times interactive COVID-19 tracker, although no county in the state has more than 15 patients currently hospitalized due to COVID-19, the number of COVID-19 related hospital admissions has increased by 66% over the last two weeks of data collection. This trend is likely to worsen as we enter the fall and winter, which are known to be times of increased respiratory virus transmission.
COVID-19 vaccine uptake is low, with the New York Times data, obtained from CDC, showing that only about 50% of Alabamians completed their primary vaccination series. Additionally, only 8% of individuals received the bivalent booster. Although these numbers are higher among adults over age 65, there’s no time like the present to ensure that your patients stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccinations.
To see the New York Times interactive COVID-19 data tracker, visit: (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/alabama-covid-cases.html).
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