Lee Health doctors stress vaccines prevent hospitalization for COVID-19

Lee Health reports 394 COVID-19 patients being treated as of Tuesday morning, with 29 new admissions Monday.

We asked Lee Health Dr. Sephanie Stovall what percent of patients put on ventilators get off them alive.

“We don’t have an exact percentage or number because it’s so patient specific,” Stovall explained.

So we asked is unvaccinated people less likely to come off.

“Yes, from the standpoint that it is incredibly rare to ever see a vaccinated person put on a ventilator,” Stovall said. “Most of our vaccinated individuals in this community are not ending up in the hospital .. They aren’t in the ICU, much less a ventilator. So, from that standpoint, there simply aren’t enough vaccinated people who wind up that severe.”

That is why 572 days after the first reported COVID-19 case in Lee County, Lee Health’s weekly news conference and weekly plea for vaccination continued.

“Vaccines do prevent hospitalization,” Stovall said. “They do prevent death.”

“It still is heartbreaking when you see 70 patients on ventilators,” Le Health CEO Dr. Larry Antonucci said. “Knowing that many of them are not going to make it. This isn’t a time to really breathe a sign of relief. We’re not through this yet. The day that I can come here until you make a few patients with COVID in the hospital, then, I’m gonna be relieved.”

• As of Tuesday morning, there are 394 COVID-19 patients isolated in Lee Health hospitals (inpatient).
• Of these patients, 8 of them are children being treated at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.
• On Monday, there were 29 new COVID-19 hospital admissions and 63 COVID-19 discharges.
• 46% of ventilators and 4% of ICU rooms are available for use. There are 70 COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 85 in the intensive care unit.
• On Tuesday morning, census was at 95% of staffed operational bed capacity.
• Since the start of the pandemic, 1,056 patients have died in Lee Health hospitals to COVID-19, including 7 on Monday.

Watch Lee Health’s weekly COVID-19 update below at noon or click here.

Lee Health offers COVID-19 vaccines for anyone 12 and older at its walk-in Community Vaccination Clinic, located inside Gulf Coast Medical Center. It’s open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for no cost.