Hospitals Say 88 To 95 Percent Of COVID-19 Patients Unvaccinated

TALLAHASSEE, FL — As some hospital beds in Florida see an influx of coronavirus patients, prompting them to postpone elective surgeries and limit visitors, hospital executives told Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that the majority of COVID-19-positive patients who are hospitalized are people in their 50s who are not vaccinated.

During a roundtable meeting with DeSantis and Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller Wednesday, hospital leaders said the key to fighting this latest surge in coronavirus cases is a stepped-up campaign to get Floridians vaccinated.

On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida, the highest one-day total recorded in the state since the pandemic was declared.

Since then, the number of new cases has gone down slightly with 16,998 Sunday, 17,001 Monday and 16,935 cases reported on Tuesday, with 240 people dying from the coronavirus in Florida from Saturday to Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus tracker.

The surge has prompted the resumption of mandatory mask mandates at government buildings, Florida theme parks, museums, stores and restaurants. It's also caused an outcry among parents and school officials who are demanding that DeSantis rescind his executive order prohibiting mandatory mask mandates in schools.

The roundtable participants, however, told DeSantis that the key to getting the virus under control is to convince people who have been putting off getting a vaccination or are opposed to vaccinations to have a change of heart.

Both Orlando Health and North Broward Health hospitals reported roughly 95 percent of COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospitals are unvaccinated. Jackson Health reported 88 percent of its patients have not been vaccinated.

“Despite the information that’s coming out about people that are fully vaccinated still getting COVID, those numbers are low,” said Dr. George Ralls, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Orlando Health. “And they are absolutely still in a better situation than they would have been had they gotten COVID without the vaccine. So it's really, really important to drive that message to everybody.”

“Vaccinated people have a lot less potential of getting hospitalized — that’s extremely important,” said Carlos Migoya, president and CEO of Jackson Health System.

"A lot of people are afraid and panicking," Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said. "The solution is to get vaccinated. I’m not suggesting we coerce or force or mandate people to get vaccinated, but we keep working together to educate them that the vaccine is effective. It will keep you out of the hospital and keep you from getting really, really sick.”

North Broward hospital President and CEO Shane Strum said the unvaccinated patients coming into his hospital display more severe symptoms than those who are vaccinated. He said the average hospital stay for an unvaccinated patient is five to seven days while a vaccinated patient averages a one- to two-day hospital stay.

Nevertheless, he said doctors at his hospital say there's no evidence the delta variant of the virus causes more severe symptoms. He said the delta variant may be “more contagious, but what our physicians are telling us it is less powerful.”

At Tampa General Hospital, TGH President and CEO John Couris told DeSantis the biggest difference he's seen in this surge compared to last year's peak is the age of the patient. He said the median age of COVID-19 patients last summer was 68 years old. Now the median age is 57, he said.

Orlando Health CEO and President David Strong said his hospital is also seeing younger patients with coronavirus. He said the majority of coronavirus patients at his hospital are between the ages of 40 and 64.

“Talking about that average age, ours was in the low 70s last time," Strum said. "This time, it’s in the 50s, low 50s. So, you see a big difference there."

Beyond getting vaccinated, Strong urges residents to seek treatment immediately if they display coronavirus symptoms. He said his hospital is seeing an influx of patients who delayed getting treatment until they've become so ill, they require hospitalization.

“I don’t want folks to lose sight of that. One of the things that occurred, and you’ve heard some of my colleagues talk about it this last year, where people delayed care," he said. "That creates significant issues."

The hospital executives denied reports that hospitals are running out of beds for coronavirus patients.

Although they said the number of beds in use has increased over the past few weeks, coronavirus patients account for only 5 to 20 percent of the patient census.

In contrast, Migoya said Jackson Health had as high as 50 percent coronavirus patients last year.

“The hospitals are ready, and we’re able to take care of patients in a crisis and an emergency," Couris said. "At TGH right now we have 126 COVID patients — we are a 1,041-bed hospital. That’s a little over 10 percent of our beds are devoted right now to COVID patients.”

The complete video of the roundtable discussion can be found here.

See related stories:

• Florida Posts Record Number Of New Coronavirus Cases: CDC
• CDC Recommends Mask In All Schools; DeSantis Will Fight Mandate
• DeSantis To School Boards: You Better Not Mandate Masking Kids
• Tampa Bay Hospitals Sound Alarm With Wave Of Delta Variant Cases