DETROIT – Officials with the Henry Ford Health System have reported seeing encouraging signs over the past week, including a decrease in the number of COVID-positive patients admitted to the hospital.
Henry Ford’s Medical Director of Infection Prevention Dr. Dennis Cunningham said they’ve also seen a decline in the overall positivity rate in the Metro Detroit community. He said even with the improvement in current conditions everyone needs to get vaccinated and boosted.
“It is very clear that we need to change the way we think about what it means to be fully vaccinated,” Cunningham said. “Just last week, a series of new studies were released confirming the booster dose makes a significant difference especially with the omicron variant.”
Read: CDC: Omicron death data suggest variant is less severe than previous variants
According to CDC data, unvaccinated people are 13 times more likely of becoming infected with COVID. The unvaccinated have a 68 times higher risk of death compared to people who are vaccinated and boosted.
“In the four counties where Henry Ford Hospital has presence only about 55% of those eligible to be vaccinated have had their primary series of the COVID vaccine. Only 20% to 30% of people are up-to-date on their vaccinations, meaning they received a booster,” Cunningham said.
READ: Complete Michigan COVID coverage