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.
University of Alabama shutters Black, female student magazines
The editors of Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice magazines were informed Monday that the university was stopping the magazines immediately. A university official cited July guidance from Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
Europe’s left is taking notes on Mamdani’s successful campaign for New York mayor
The New York mayor-elect's victory has energized the European left, with politicians casting themselves as their country's version of Mamdani, and strategists eager to study how he won.
Vern Yip’s secret to better home decor? Stop scrolling for inspiration
In the digital age, it's easy to curate the look of your home with the help of artificial intelligence and social media. But designer Vern Yip would like you to take a more hands-on, tactile approach.
FBI arrests suspect in investigation into pipe bombs planted near DNC, RNC before Jan. 6 attack
The FBI has spent years searching for the person who put bombs near the Democratic and Republican committee headquarters, hours before the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
13 musical moments World Cafe loved in 2025
To close out the year, World Cafe shares some of their personal favorite music-related moments.
This High Arctic rhino may change what we know about ancient animal migrations
A 23-million-year-old rhinoceros fossil is reshaping scientists' understanding of mammal evolution.
