Johnston hospitals have 70 COVID patients - only 1 has been vaccinated

High numbers of COVID-19 patients are usually linked to lower coronavirus vaccination rates, and physicians in Johnston County are facing that discouraging relationship every day.

Only 41 percent of Johnston County residents are vaccinated, according to state statistics, and physicians say 47 percent of the patients in Johnston UNC Health's facilities in Smithfield and Clayton have the virus.

"Normally, we have about 150 available medical beds. This week, we’ve had half of those beds filled with COVID patients," Dr. Rodney McCaskill, chief medical officer for Johnson Health, said Friday. "Our staff is tired. Many of them are working double shifts [or] overtime."

Smithfield hospital overwhelmed, but few in Johnston County seeking booster shots

Sixty-nine of the 70 infected patients haven't been vaccinated, according to Johnston Health.

Before the pandemic, about 90 beds in the two hospitals were filled on an average summer day, and that jumped to between 100 and 120 in the winter, McCaskill said.

"Every bed is full [now], so 150 medical patients for the past month or two," he said. "It’s shifted to half COVID over the last one month."

Two months ago, only four patients in the two hospitals had COVID-19, he noted.

Nowhere is the influx more evident than in the intensive care unit. Sixteen of the 17 ICU patients have COVID-19.

As coronavirus hospitalizations skyrocket, some hospitals delaying elective surgeries

"If you take a look at UNC Health system-wide, we are one of the hardest hit proportionally," McCaskill said. "I mean, half of our patients have COVID. That’s a much high proportion than, say, Rex [Hospital in Raleigh] or UNC Medical Center [in Chapel Hill]."

About half of the patients who land in the ICU do ask for a vaccine shot, Cieza said. While it’s too late for them, he said he tells his patients they can still make a difference for others.

"You are sick. I think you are going to be OK. You are on oxygen. You may need a ventilator," he said he tells them. "Something that you can do for your family [is] call them. Tell them you’re in the unit. Please tell them to get the vaccine. That’s the best way to prevent serious COVID infection."