‘I’m tired of losing my friends.’ Doctors discuss vaccine hesitancy amid COVID-19 delta surge

COLUMBUS — State health officials on Thursday pushed for new vaccinations amid a recent "troubling" surge in new COVID-19 cases worldwide.

Ohio's rate of new cases per 100,000 residents is "rapidly climbing" toward 200, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health's chief medical officer. That's up from fewer than 18 new cases per 100,000 people on July 7, he said.

With more infections comes more hospitalizations and patients requiring ventilators, Vanderhoff said.

"While we have substantial hospital and ventilator capacity remaining here in Ohio, we nevertheless have heightened concern as reports emerge from other states that hospitals there are beginning to turn away elective procedures and face real pressure on their physical resources," he said. "We continue to remind Ohioans that the best way to protect yourself from serious illness is choosing to receive a vaccine."

COVID-19's highly contagious delta variant — which experts believe creates a higher viral load, making infected persons "sicker, quicker" — is now so prevalent in the state that doctors can safely assume the variant is responsible for most, if not all, of the new reported cases, Vanderhoff said.

Though Thursday's guest speaker, Dr. Steven Burdette, a 17-year infectious disease specialist at Wright State Physicians in Fairborn, said though few patients experience lasting side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine, for each there are likely dozens upon dozens of unvaccinated people facing far greater risk from the novel coronavirus.

When asked about the issue of mandated vaccines for health care workers, Burdette said the concept is not new — vaccines have been required for hepatitis B and influenza. Many of those who succumb to the disease are the ones tasked with fighting it.

More than 99 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in Ohio have been unvaccinated individuals, Burdette said.

"I'm sick and tired of losing colleagues. I'm tired of having doctors die. I'm tired of seeing respiratory therapists die. I'm tired of seeing patient techs and medical assistants die of COVID," he said. "I lost friends, I lost peers — in this area and across the country.

"I have no problem with [mandatory vaccines] because I'm tired of losing my friends."

Vanderhoff said state officials, are, however, encouraged by a recent uptick in new vaccinations. About 10,000 Ohioans are starting their vaccinations each day, and about 5,000 others are completing them, he said.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 2:10 PM with the headline "‘I’m tired of losing my friends.’ Doctors discuss vaccine hesitancy amid COVID-19 delta surge."