Hospital data from southwest IL continues to show COVID impacts the unvaccinated hardest

The latest data from local medical facilities continues to show unvaccinated individuals stand a higher chance of being hospitalized than vaccinated people if they catch the COVID-19 virus.

During Wednesday’s weekly COVID-19 briefing, St. Clair County Health Department Director Myla Blandford again presented a joint graphic from Touchette Regional Hospital, Memorial Hospital and HSHS St. Elizabeth’s hospital breaking down overall hospitalizations, ICU patients and those on ventilators among vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

Here were the results:

• Hospitalizations: 79 people total hospitalized, with 70 of them unvaccinated.
• ICU: 18 individuals total in the ICU, with 17 of them unvaccinated.
• Ventilators: Two people on ventilators, with both of them unvaccinated.

“Thank you to our hospitals for preparing that information for us,” Blandford said.

Going back to the Aug. 25 briefing, Blandford addressed a question about what people should do if they lose their vaccination card.

She offered multiple options, including going to VACC Certification Verification — which she also referred to as VACC Verify — reaching out to the Illinois Department of Public Health, or calling the St. Clair County Health Department.

“At VACC Verify, you do have to go on and set up an account, but then you can print out all your immunization records,” she said. “It’s a handy tool to have. If all else fails, you can call the health department and we’ll assist you with that as well.”

Vaccine data

According to data released by the state health department on Wednesday, 305,257 Region 4 residents have been fully vaccinated out of the estimated 660,225 who live in the region, or 46.2%. That’s an increase of 1,518 people people from the previous week; however, it’s a drop from the period of Aug. 19-25 when 4,491 became fully vaccinated and a drop from the period of Aug. 12-18 when 8,409 people became fully vaccinated.

Madison and St. Clair counties continue to vaccinate the most individuals in Region 4, combining to fully vaccinate 959 people in the past week; however, similar to the Region 4 totals, that’s down from approximately 3,700 during the period of Aug. 19-25 and down from more than 7,000 the week of Aug. 12-18, according to state health department data.

“Vaccination is our best tool,” President/CEO of Memorial Hospital Mike McManus said during St. Clair County’s press conference Aug. 18. “We just have to keep spreading that message.”

Here is the latest vaccination data from Region 4:

• Bond County: 6,322 people have been fully vaccinated, or 38.02% of the population. That’s an increase of 98 people from one week ago.
• Clinton County: 17,304 people have been fully vaccinated, or 45.97% of the population. That’s an increase of 91 people from one week ago.
• Madison County: 125,860 people have been fully vaccinated, or 47.59% of the population. That’s an increase of 472 people from one week ago.
• Monroe County: 17,440 people have been fully vaccinated, or 50.79% of the population. That’s an increase of 135 people from one week ago.
• Randolph County: 13,002 people have been fully vaccinated, or 40.50% of the population. That’s an increase of 255 people from one week ago.
• St. Clair County: 119,017 people have been fully vaccinated, or 45.59% of the population. That’s an increase of 487 people from one week ago.
• Washington County: 6,312 people have been fully vaccinated, or 45.10% of the population. That’s an increase of 93 people from one week ago.

For state totals, according to Wednesday’s data, 6,752,485 Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated, or 53.0%. That’s an increase of 33,346 from the previous week, but a drop from 76,103 from Aug. 19-25.

“Please go out and get vaccinated,” Blandford said.

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 5:32 PM.