UAB Expert: Alabama Could See ‘Tidal Wave’ Of Coronavirus Cases This Month
UAB health experts are expecting a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in the coming weeks. Alabama hit 1,785 hospitalizations Tuesday, a new record that marks the most since August.
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, head of UAB’s infectious diseases division, said she expects numbers to rise over the coming weeks because of Thanksgiving gatherings.
“This is a time when we need to start thinking of things like ‘tidal wave’ imagery. Tsunami imagery. We really are very, very concerned,” Marrazzo said. “Of course, the fear is that we have this constant level of surge, we have this spike right now, and we could really be in a situation in two to three weeks that comprises our ability to provide healthcare.”
The positivity rate in Alabama is up to 20%. At the same time, testing rates are down compared to previous months, according to Marrazzo. The number of available intensive care unit beds statewide is dwindling.
“If you look at some of the models that forecast what’s going to happen in three weeks after Thanksgiving and you superimpose it on the numbers we’re seeing now, you could conceivably see a true need for setting up ancillary care places,” Marrazzo said.
Vaccine Rollout Prioritizes Health Care Workers
Alabama is expected to receive 40,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in an initial shipment.
“Allocations can change,” Dr. Karen Landers with the Alabama Department of Public Health told WBHM in an email.
Additional vaccines will be shipped to Alabama depending on allocation models, supply, and whether other vaccines are granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Frontline health care workers and some first responders top the priority list for early doses, according to the ADPH’s Vaccination Allocation Plan. But there have been questions about whether nursing home residents and staff should also get priority.
“These are two-dose vaccines, so everything you see you’ve got to divide by two if you’re talking about fully immunizing people. Because a single dose, we hope, confers some protection, but we don’t think it’s enough,” Marrazzo said.
She said Alabama will likely receive the vaccines in January. Alabama was previously slated to receive the vaccine in December.
Editor’s Note: UAB holds WBHM’s broadcast license, but our news and business departments operate independently.
Increase in military aid to Ukraine marks a shift in White House policy toward Russia
The Pentagon and U.S. military officials in Europe are working with NATO members to ship more Patriot missile systems to Ukraine and release more munitions that were briefly halted.
U.S. senator wants DOGE out of sensitive payment system for farmers
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., wants the USDA to revoke high-level access granted to the Department of Government Efficiency to a database that controls payments and loans to farmers and ranchers.
Lawyer says an Alabama teen who was killed by police was shot in the back
Authorities have not released police body camera video of the June 23 encounter or disclosed the name of the officer who shot 18-year-old Jabari Peoples in the parking lot of a soccer field in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Homewood. They also haven't released the findings of the county's official autopsy.
An Israeli restaurant owner quits a controversial Gaza food program after criticism
Shahar Segal, who runs popular restaurants around the world, has left his role as a spokesman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation amid calls to boycott his businesses.
Trump’s pick for U.N. Ambassador grilled over Signal chat scandal
Former national security adviser Mike Waltz, who was removed from office amid the Signal chat controversy, spent Tuesday in the Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
5 takeaways from the 2025 Emmy nominations
Apple TV+ must be happy about how many nominations they've raked in this year for hit shows including Severance and The Studio, NPR critic Linda Holmes says.
