MIDLAND, Texas — Local leaders from the three hospitals in Midland and Odessa got together to speak to the community about the thing dominating our lives: COVID-19.
In an hour-long discussion in which they talked about hospital capacity, treatment and the current surge in cases, one issue stood out for these health officials. That issue is for those who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated.
Dr. Rohith Saravanan, the chief medical officer at ORMC, has received a lot of questions about when he thinks we will get over COVID-19. He said that it is up to the community.
"With this surge, we have a vaccine available," Saravanan said. "The vaccine has been around for more than 8-9 months, so that is in the community's hand to really figure out how long this is going to last."
As the virus has spread, it has continued to mutate and leave communities with different variants, such as the delta variant which is currently the dominant strain in the community.
Dr. Larry Wilson, the chief medical officer at Midland Memorial Hospital, said that we could have avoided the delta variant's rampage if more people had gotten vaccinated earlier.
"We would not be dealing with the delta variant critical crisis that we’re dealing with right now if 70-80% of our population had been vaccinated before it began," Wilson said. "Now it’s burning so brightly that I think we need 80 or 90% vaccinated."
One critical care physician at Medical Center Hospital, Dr. Alejandra Garcia, said that the community needs to take more personal responsibility to help keep each other safe.
"I think it’s about personal responsibility and accountability for your decisions," Garcia said. "We have to to start thinking about our communities and stop thinking about ourselves. Vaccination is not about you. It’s about the people around you. It’s about your community."