AUSTIN, Texas — Local emergency room physicians say in the last two weeks, they've seen a jump in COVID-19 related admissions and hospitalizations. Nearly 100% of those patients have been unvaccinated.
On average, local hospitals are admitting more than 30 new COVID-19 patients per day. Dr. Natasha Kathuria is a world health specialist who not only works at several different emergency rooms across the Austin area but also hospitals across the state of Texas.
She said as well as seeing unvaccinated people testing positive, she is also seeing vaccinated people experiencing breakthrough infections due to the delta variant. But she said the difference is the vaccinated people aren't having to be hospitalized nor are they at risk of dying.
"Here in our community, we aren't protected. We have a significant amount of people that still aren't vaccinated. They are still on the fence and hesitant about whether or not to get vaccinated. And so, it's something we are trying to educate the public, [that] this is a very safe vaccine," Kathuria said.
She feels that as a community, we need to do our part to have conversations with loved ones and friends about getting the vaccine.
"I think the conversation needs to not come from a place of judgment but a place of understanding. We need to protect our people the best we can," Kathuria said.
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