WAUSAU, WI (WSAU-WXPR) — “Please Get Vaccinated.” That’s the message from the Senior Vice President of Aspirus Health as local hospitals deal with another surge in COVID-19 patients.
Right now- the Aspirus System has about 60 patients with COVID-19, roughly half are in the ICU.
Jeff Wicklander is the Aspirus Health Senior Vice President and Aspirus Wausau Hospital President. He says there’s a level of frustration with this surge because most of it could have been prevented if people got vaccinated.
Wicklander says they’ve been working with people- including employees within the system- to educate them on the vaccines. “As we’ve done that, we have seen people then become vaccinated. They either had misinformation or we were able to break down some of the myths associated with that.”
Wicklander says the hospitals are much more prepared for this surge. Personal Protective Equipment is no longer in short supply. And advances in treatment have reduced hospitalizations.
Patients that fall into the high-risk groups can get dual infusion therapy if they test positive but aren’t at the hospitalization stage yet. “We have seen that patients that get that therapy have an admission rate of just under 3%, where as that high-risk population that were unvaccinated and without that infusion, was probably more in the 20 [percent]. So that’s one of the big things we’ve seen.”
Wicklander says the vast majority of hospitalized patients they see are unvaccinated. He urges everyone to get vaccinated.
