MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Since the pandemic began, just 26 of the 11,600 people in Alabama who have died of COVID-19 were fully vaccinated, State Health Officer Scott Harris said Friday.
Harris released the numbers as the state tries to boost lagging vaccination rates. Health officials say many of the coronavirus cases could have been prevented if people had gotten inoculated.
“Please get vaccinated as soon as possible. We have three safe and effective vaccines. They’re free. They are widely available,” Harris said.
Alabama has seen the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases nearly triple over the past two weeks, rising from 1,133 on July 21 to 3,167 on Aug. 4. The number of people hospitalized stood at 1,848 on Thursday, the highest the state has seen since early February.
“I think it’s correct to say that we wouldn’t see these kind of numbers if we had more people vaccinated,” Harris said. “Again the case numbers are being driven by people that aren’t vaccinated, which is unfortunate.”