Gov. Doug Burgum is pleading for citizens to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as North Dakota’s hospitals struggle with an influx of patients infected with the highly contagious delta variant.
Burgum brought together health professionals Wednesday in his first COVID-19 briefing in more than five months. The Republican governor says hospital capacity is a “present and looming issue” and “that the risk is real.”
North Dakota ranks 42nd in the nation in vaccination rates and Burgum says the trend line for new cases is worse than it was during the outbreak’s winter peak.
Dr. Paul Sather, chief of medical staff at Trinity Health in Minot, said: “It bends my mind to think of the number that people that don’t want to get a vaccinate because it’s not FDA-approved, yet they go out and they grab all these treatments that aren’t regulated whatsoever and are putting them in their body — and also going off and buying something meant for their cow and their horse and using it.”
Sather said those who are not vaccinated should seek authoritative sources of guidance.
“I can find all kinds of information about the world being flat if I go look for it,” Sather said. “But look for the reliable, trusted source of information that’s been vetted through experts.”
The state Health Department’s vaccine dashboard shows 52.6 percent of North Dakotans 12 and older have had at least one vaccine dose… while 48.4 percent are fully vaccinated.
There are currently 2,442 active cases of COVID-19 in North Dakota, including 181 Grand Forks County. The state has 135 COVID patients in hospitals.
Doctors say COVID-19 patients are younger and healthier than they were a year ago.
(Some from AP)
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