CARTHAGE, Miss.–As COVID slows in Mississippi, one more person is being reported dead in our part of the state, in Attala County. But, doctors with the State Dept. of Health and the Miss. Medical Association believe the vaccine is working and that is why you’re seeing and hearing about fewer coronavirus cases.
“Ninety eight percent of our cases in the past month, unvaccinated folks; almost ninety percent of our hospitalization, unvaccinated individuals; 88 percent of our deaths, in unvaccinated folks,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers at the weekly meeting with the state Medical Association.
Today MSDH is reporting 1,505 more cases of COVID-19 in Mississippi, 30 deaths, and 92 ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities. State #covid19 totals: 482,902 cases, 9,425 deaths, and 1,292,990 persons fully vaccinated. Full information: https://t.co/YCv9xPQkuS pic.twitter.com/gpTUc8G7Aj
— MS Dept of Health (@msdh) September 24, 2021
He said the vaccinations have helped, particularly with saving peoples lives.
“We’ve not had a single death under the age of 40 in a vaccinated person.”
While Byers took the opportunity to encourage people to get vaccinated, he also stressed that people who get the virus should get monocolonal antibody treatments, which have lessened the symptoms and kept people out of the hospital.
Those treatments are available in at least one clinic in each county in central Mississippi and for now, the federal government pays it.
