WLWT: COVID-19 patients total 170 at local hospitals, not a single one vaccinated
UC expert says this should be a 'wake-up call' to those unsure about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness
A recent report looking at the number of COVID-19 cases in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky showed that of the 170 patients hospitalized with the virus, none had been vaccinated for it. In a story broadcast by WLWT-TV, Channel 5, Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, of the UC College of Medicine Division of Infectious Diseases said he was not at all surprised by that.
Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the UC College of Medicine. Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand
“This is what we expected to see. This is what the data showed. This is why the science is leading us in this direction,” said Fichtenbaum. “It should be a wakeup call to people who said, ‘I’m not sure about this vaccine.’”
The effectiveness of the vaccine is shedding light on one weakness of scientists according to Fichtenbaum.
“For decades and decades and decades, we have not been very good at presenting science to society,” Fichtenbaum said.
Considering how science showed the overwhelming impact of the vaccines on the virus, Fichtenbaum believes there should be far fewer who are vaccine-hesitant.
“We’ve made it this mystical thing that’s somehow magical and you can’t understand it if you’re the everyday man or woman," Fichtenbaum said. "So, that’s not true. We need to do a better job of getting people to understand science."
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