The COVID-19 vaccination effort in Berrien County has been making a big difference. During a COVID update with Spectrum Health Lakeland President Loren Hamel and Berrien County Health Officer Nicki Britten Thursday, Britten said there has been a marked increase in new cases in the county, but they’re in younger people. She also noted new COVID variants are having an effect.
“We do know that once variants are present in a community, it does fairly quickly become the predominant strain,” Britten said. “Not the only [strain], but it becomes more common. So there are a lot of factors here that we are continuing to watch.”
Hamel said Spectrum Health Lakeland has seen more hospitalizations.
“We saw over the course of just a couple weeks, we went from no admissions, which was just a breath of fresh air to have no admissions at the hospital at least for a couple days, up to 27,” Hamel said.
While that’s manageable, Hamel said the situation is starker at hospitals on the east side of the state. He noted as long as people are getting COVID, there are going to be serious cases and there are going to be deaths. That’s why he urges all to get vaccinated.
“God bless you all who have taken the vaccine. Thank you so very much. The life you save might be your own, but it could also be your neighbor’s, and so I think that’s the responsible thing to do.”
Hamel said now is the time for everyone to seek a vaccination. If you were waiting so others more at-risk than yourself could go first, he said you should stop doing that now. If you’ve already had the illness, you’re still advised to get vaccinated because Hamel said Spectrum is getting patients who had COVID and then got it again, especially with the variants now in the community. You can sign up for vaccine appointments through the Berrien County Health Department right here.
