Across the United States, the Delta variant is not stopping, and one man died after being turned away from 43 hospitals full of covid-infected patients. ICU beds in seven states are running low, leaving little room for other emergencies.
Alabama man dies after being turned away from 43 hospitals full of COVID patients
Ray DeMonia’s family claims to have received calls to 43 hospitals in three states to get an ICU bed for the 73-year-old patient.
He subsequently died at a facility in Mississippi, 200 miles from his home in Alabama. His family members wrote in his obituary “please vaccinate … to free up resources for non-COVID emergencies.”
This comes at a time when cases of COVID in children continue to rise, now accounting for one in four new infections.
More than a quarter of a million cases were reported last week, the highest number in history.
President Biden unveiled his plan to have private companies vaccinate their employees, but what about children, specifically those under 12?
There are new questions about vaccines in young children, as experts tell parents to wait, for now.
The FDA issued a new warning Monday telling parents not to give the COVID vaccine to children under 12 until the agency gives its approval, saying in part that “children are not small adults.”
The former FDA director laid out his “best case scenario” for when they are available for children.
“I could have a vaccine available for 5- to 11-year-olds by Halloween, if all goes well,” said Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner.
President Biden also ordered last week that businesses with more than 100 employees must require the vaccines or impose weekly testing.
However, Republican governors in at least 19 states are now vowing to fight back.
“This is an unprecedented assumption of federally mandated authority that really disrupts and divides the country,” said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
