From The Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Department of Public Health reported that the has recorded its 12,000th death of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vaccination rates in the state still lag behind most of the rest of the country, even with state and county health officials urging vaccinations and masks as hospitals — especially those in metro areas — struggle with a surge of patients. Currently there are no more ICU beds available in the state, according to the Alabama Hospital Association.
“Vaccines take a little while to kick in,” Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson told Alabama Public Radio station WBHM. “So we’re going to have to get back to the basics, I’m afraid. We really need everyone to be extremely careful right now with the masking … because that’s the only thing we can do in the short term that can potentially help our hospitals.”
View the Alabama Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard HERE.