SMITH COUNTY, Texas — With a recent rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in East Texas, our Alan Kaspar sat down with the experts from NET Health to find out what kind of impact it’s having on Smith County.
"We had a little over 4000 total cases in Smith County for the month of August," George Roberts, the CEO of NET Health said. "We’ve had almost 5000 total cases through the first half of the month of September, so the cases are up dramatically.
Roberts says that as the number of cases rise, so do hospitalizations. Oftentimes, this means a higher death rate.
"We have seen an increase in the number of deaths from people who have passed away over the last month and a half due to COVID-19," Roberts said.
Roughly 53% of Smith County residents are eligible to get vaccinated so far with at least one dose, while only 45% are fully vaccinated.
Roberts says NET Health is trying to encourage residents to get the vaccine, and then to return for their second shot 21-28 days later.
"We have had issues with people not going back and getting their second doses," Roberts said. "Getting the second dose is very important to make sure that you are as protected as you can possibly be. You get some level of protection by getting one of the two-dose series, but the 95% effectiveness really happens once you’ve been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days."
While breakthrough cases have been reported, Roberts says the risk of severe symptoms after being vaccinated is drastically reduced.
"The people who are on the fence about getting vaccinated, we are starting to see some of those people come in now," Roberts said. "The faster we can get people vaccinated, the faster we can reduce the negative impact of COVID-19."
Robert says they have received a large number of inquiries about vaccine booster shots, but until they are officially approved by the FDA and the CDC they will not be available to the general public.