CLEVELAND — Even with millions of vaccines being administered, the director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is issuing a new warning about the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is pleading with Americans to continue to take precautions against the spread of coronavirus, saying she fears a fourth surge is on the way.
“I'm speaking today not necessarily as your CDC director and not only as your CDC director, but as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter to ask you to just hold on a little while longer,” said Dr. Walensky. “I so badly want to be done, I know you all so badly want to be done. We are just almost there, but not quite yet.”
She calls the three historic coronavirus vaccines 'a scientific breakthrough' and while vaccines are rolling out quickly, with all Ohioans 16 and up eligible, more people need to get vaccinated.
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“It's as if there are two people on the starting blocks, one is vaccine and one is variant, the gun has gone off and they are both sprinting to the finish line,” said Dr. Claudia Hoyen, pediatric infectious disease specialist at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.
According to the state’s COVID-19 website, 28 percent of Ohioans have their first dose, but coronavirus cases in Ohio are hitting a plateau.
“I think we plateaud because once people started thinking, 'oh it's going down,' some people stopped doing what they needed to do,” said Dr. Hoyen.
Dr. Hassan Khouli, Chair of the Department of Critical Care Medicine at Cleveland Clinic, says we are not seeing a constant decrease anymore.
“We have seen a significant decrease in the cases since December, but now a plateau and some uptick and that means a slight uptick in hospitalizations and ICU admissions,” said Dr. Khouli. “Some people aren't following these practices and what we see is a surge. We are not done yet and it important to keep the hope because these vaccines are becoming more and more available and we know they are effective and safe.”
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