Mid – Missouri hospitals dealing with unvaccinated patients

ABC – 17 – Cole County health leaders said Thursday that an overwhelming majority of patients with coronavirus they’re seeing in their overloaded hospitals are unvaccinated.

The county’s public health department and hospital officials spoke during a virtual meeting.

Cole County has been hit hard with the omicron surge — the county is No. 2 in the state behind Boone County for most new coronavirus cases per capita, according to state data. Callaway County is No. 3.

Dr. Randall Haight, with Capital Region Medical Center, says cases are nearly at the same levels as the last peak in November 2020. He said 75% of patients being admitted for COVID-19 are unvaccinated and 95% of patients that have died were unvaccinated.

Dr. Lenora Adams, with SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital, says 47 patients are hospitalized and that broke the previous record from the two previous coronavirus surges.