Catherine Wentowski, a pulmonology physician, treats a COVID-19 victim at Ochsner Medical Center, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana on August 10, 2021. Kathleen Flynn/Reuters
A doctor in Iowa's ER pleaded with social media users to get vaccinated for the coronavirus.
He blamed the flood of COVID-19 patients in ICU beds on misinformation regarding vaccines.
Dr. Lance VanGundy stated that it sometimes feels like a third world country.
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A Facebook live stream showed an Iowa emergency room doctor pledging to get the coronavirus vaccine.
"We are drowning with people who are dying from this disease," Dr. Lance VanGundy told viewers. He is an ER doctor at UnityPoint Health in Marshalltown.
VanGundy stated that he had seen non-COVID-19 patients who suffered from meningitis and stroke. He also said that they were experiencing heart attacks, strokes, heart attacks, and blood clots. However, he couldn't transfer them into ICUs as "they're all filled" with COVID-19 patients. VanGundy warned that patients who become sick will have to wait for beds to open up for as long as possible.
He said, "This is terrible." It sometimes feels like a third world country."
VanGundy decried the "misinformation” about vaccines as well as about the virus that is causing the current state in hospitalizations.
He said, "In more than 20 years of doing that I have never been so busy or as stressed"
According to Kaiser Family Foundation polling, 14% of Americans don't plan on getting vaccinated. Others who have not yet have taken a wait-and-see approach, despite Pfizer vaccines being fully approved by the FDA and health professionals assuring their safety.
According to data from Iowa's Department of Public Health, more than 90% of COVID-19-infected patients are not fully vaccinated.
A few months back, the US seemed to have turned the corner on the pandemic. More Americans were vaccinated. However, as the number of people vaccinated slowed, a more contagious strain of the virus, Delta, started to spread. Officials fear that new seasonal surges could be coming to the states.
According to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Iowa has fully immunized 61% of its population 12 and older who are eligible for vaccination.
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