Story at a glance
- New COVID-19 cases are climbing in New England as the highly contagious delta variant continues to hit unvaccinated populations amid seasonal changes, forcing residents to move indoors.
- Vermont, which has one of the lowest case rates and is one of the most vaccinated states, is averaging 369 daily COVID-19 cases.
- Data compiled by The New York Times shows a 14 percent increase in new daily cases over the past 14 days with the nation averaging nearly 85,000 per day.
New COVID-19 cases are climbing in New England as the highly contagious delta variant continues to hit unvaccinated populations and residents move indoors due to colder weather.
Data compiled by NBC News shows Vermont and New Hampshire recording the largest increases over the past two weeks, rising by 60 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Vermont, which has one of the lowest case rates and is one of the most vaccinated states, is averaging 369 daily COVID-19 cases. The state boasts a nearly 72 percent full vaccination rate.
Jan Carney, associate dean for public health at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, told NBC seasonal factors moving the state’s population indoors could contribute to rising cases.
“These are areas that also have the lowest vaccination rates in the state,” she said. “So that confirms that these factors are all working together, and it’s why we’re continuing to emphasize the essentialness of vaccines as our primary prevention strategy.”
The outlet noted that hospitalizations are also up in Vermont, as well as in New Hampshire and Maine. Aalok Khole, an infectious diseases physician at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, N.H., told NBC many of the cases requiring intensive care are occurring in younger individuals, some of whom are unvaccinated.
“Most recently we’ve seen some folks in the [intensive care unit] who are in the age groups of anywhere from 45 and 60, and I can definitely tell you these are unvaccinated individuals,” Khole said.
“If you look at the current surge, almost one-third of the new cases are in younger age groups,” Khole added. “People between ages 12 and 35 dominate new cases right now. And a lot of this population has not been vaccinated by a single dose.”
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New Hampshire and Maine have vaccinated 64 percent and 71 percent of their state’s residents, respectively.
Khole told the outlet he is worried about hospital resources across the U.S. potentially being stretched too thin due to “a shortage of healthcare workers, burnout and resiliency issues.”
“How we’re going to fare through the winter is probably a concern in every health care worker’s mind right now,” Khole concluded.
Data compiled by The New York Times shows a 14 percent increase in new daily cases over the past 14 days with the nation averaging nearly 85,000 per day. Deaths due to COVID-19 fell by 14 percent over the same period as the U.S. recorded approximately 1,129 deaths each day.
Around 59 percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated.
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