COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alabama declined 69% from the peak in January; 11% of the population received the first dose of vaccine
MONTGOMERY – Alabama’s coronavirus levels have moved in the right direction over the past week, with hospitalizations continuing.
According to BamaTracker, a website that collects government data on the virus, 951 Alabamians were in the hospital Friday with COVID-19. This is a drop of 1,258 a week ago and is a remarkable decline from the peak of 3,084 on January 11th.
As for the vaccination, the Alabama Department of Health (ADPH) reports that 530,021 received a dose of the vaccines and that 186,578 individuals completed the two-dose treatment.
The extreme winter weather experienced in some parts of the state has delayed certain appointments this week, which have been largely rescheduled for the weekend.
Alabama has had an average of 710 new cases of the virus each of the past seven days. That seven-day average is lower than 967 a week ago and a high of 3,080 on January 11th.
Of Alabama’s 67 counties, 54 reported a new case of coronavirus on Friday.
If rapid tests and other COVID-19 detection methods are included, Alabama’s average new cases rise to 935 instead of exclusively laboratory-confirmed PCR tests.
The average of 14 days of positive coronavirus tests is currently 9.5%, compared to 11.8% a week ago.
In Alabama, 5.91 tests are currently given for every positive test that comes back.
About 10% of the new cases of coronavirus are needed in the hospital, according to dr. Scott Harris, state health officer.
“It’s just a breath of fresh air for all of us in healthcare,” said Dr. Sarah Nafziger, UAB Hospital’s vice president for clinical services, said in a media conference on Friday.
Alabama’s death toll from the virus is now estimated at 9,573. ADPH employees confirmed that 7,514 were due to the coronavirus, while the other 2,059 were listed as ‘probable’ COVID-19 deaths. In the course of the pandemic, very few cases listed in the probable category have not been confirmed as causing virus.
As of Friday afternoon, 1,032,175 doses of the two approved vaccine products had been delivered to Alabama.
Of these, 717,477 citizens received arms, accounting for 77.65% of all doses delivered.
Harris said during an information session in Montgomery on Friday that Alabama’s weekly allocation of the first doses received will begin to rise to about 90,000 starting next week. The state has received about 70,000 in recent weeks.
Both approved vaccine products are administered in two doses given three to four weeks apart.
In total, 530,021 Alabamians received one or more doses as of Friday afternoon. It represents about 11% of the state’s population, which is estimated to be about 4,900,000 people.
Recent scientific studies have suggested that a single shot of the vaccine products two weeks after injection is 85% or more effective in preventing a case of the virus.
Harris said Friday that Alabama will continue to follow federal guidelines and administer the two-shot regime, which is the way both vaccines have been studied in clinical trials.
However, the increasing percentage of individuals who received one stroke is likely to contribute to the decrease in cases seen in the state.
Harris also noted Friday that the primary measure Alabama must achieve for ADPH to expand qualification is a decline in demand among those currently eligible.
Currently, citizens 65 years and older, health workers, first responders and frontline employees are eligible to receive the vaccines.
“We are not out of the woods, but we see how to get out of the woods,” Harris said Friday. “I think it’s the most optimistic thing since we started.”
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @ HenryThornton95.