MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More than 270 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Shelby County in the last 24 hours, causing concern from doctors about where we’re headed in this pandemic.
Wednesday afternoon, Baptist said between their Memphis and DeSoto County hospitals, 106 people are hospitalized with the virus, 12 of them on a ventilator.
Experts with Baptist Hospital say they’re seeing more cases of the contagious delta variant, but recently, two gamma variants as well.
“That really is something that I certainly keep an eye on as being one of those variants that really has no respect for the immunity for previous infections,” said Dr. Steve Threlkeld with Baptist.
The message pushed by top doctors across the nation: Get vaccinated. But millions of Americans are still hesitant to get the shot. The reason behind that uncertainty varies from access to concerns about possible side effects.
Threlkeld says right now science is showing us long-term, negative effects of COVID like respiratory problems, high blood pressure and other issues.
As for current COVID-19 vaccines, they are RNA vaccines, meaning they teach our bodies to make a protein triggering immune response. Threlkeld said they have been studied in animals since 1990.
“This science has been underway for literally decades and there’s no question that it was accelerated dramatically by the white-hot intensity, scrutiny of federal funding of competition,” Threlkeld said.
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He says these vaccines actually took so long to develop because RNA is a fragile molecule.
“There was no corner cut in the tens of thousands of people containing phase three trials. They look at the doses, they look at the safety, they look at the efficacy. So more scrutiny has been placed on this vaccine or these RNA vaccines then we have ever seen before,” Threlkeld said.
The latest numbers from the health department show Shelby County is at nearly 59% of its vaccination goal.
Wednesday evening, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said the county is preparing a new health directive.
