Cole County hospital leaders say coronavirus hitting unvaccinated hard

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County health leaders said Thursday that an overwhelming majority of patients with coronavirus they're seeing in their overloaded hospitals are unvaccinated.

The county's public health department and hospital officials spoke during a virtual meeting that was open to the public.

Cole County has been hit hard with the omicron surge -- the county is No. 2 in the state behind Boone County for most new coronavirus cases per capita, according to state data. Callaway County is No. 3.

Hospitals there have had to delay some procedures because of the number of patients they're treating with COVID-19 and the number of staff sickened by the variant.

Dr. Randall Haight, with Capital Region Medical Center, says cases are nearly at the same levels as the last peak in November 2020. He said 75% of patients being admitted for COVID-19 are unvaccinated and 95% of patients that have died were unvaccinated.

Dr. Lenora Adams, with SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital, says 47 patients are hospitalized and that broke the previous record from the two previous coronavirus surges.

Haight and Adams urged everyone to take preventative actions so they do not get the coronavirus.