Parents Grow Increasingly Concerned As COVID-19 Cases Continue To Rise
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- After months of declining COVID-19 cases, the virus is finding the most vulnerable population -- the unvaccinated.
It raises concerns for many parents with little ones.
The FDA said on Friday that they are "working around the clock" to support the process of making the COVID-19 vaccine available for children under the age of 12.
"The vast majority of people that we see in the hospital are unvaccinated," said Dr. Esti Schabelman, Chief Medical Officer at Sinai Hospital.
Hospitals are staying busy and doctors say it's not just COVID-19 patients.
"Our biggest issue right now is just the tremendous volume of patients that we have due to people likely delaying care during the height of the covid pandemic," said Dr. Schabelman.
With the new school year underway, Dr. Schabelman said Marylanders should not let their guard down.
"With kids especially who are currently unvaccinated, there's another virus that they get called RSV that can also present the same problems if they have it with covid," Dr. Shcabelman added.
"We definitely carry hand sanitizer. I feel like the kids are really good and they've gotten used to keeping a little distance between them," said Ryan Plunkett.
Flu season is also approaching and with it comes more concerns.
"The more general viruses that we have going around, the more people we're going to have in the hospital," Dr. Schabelman said.
Here in Maryland, more than 1,100 new covid cases were reported Sunday but the statewide positivity rate remains below 5 percent.
"I think people don't want to go back down to any sort of lockdown," said Emily McDermott.
Efforts to get more shots in arms continue. President Biden's latest sweeping rule requires a vaccine mandate for all businesses with more than 100 employees or face weekly testing.
"I definitely think this is the right message. We're not going to be able to end this pandemic until everyone is vaccinated," Dr. Schabelman added.
"I wish it didn't have to happen. In a normal circumstance, I wouldn't agree with companies having a mandate for vaccinations. But unfortunately, because people aren't doing it on their own, people aren't doing their own part on their own, at this point in time, I do support the companies," said McDermott.