Hundreds of emergency military doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are being sent to southern U.S. states hit by a “dire” surge in COVID hospitalizations due to the Delta variant.
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama are among the worst to be hit by the variant, with low vaccination rates seen as a driver of the latest surge. So far, only 39 percent of people in AL have received both doses of a vaccine, compared to 68 percent in Vermont.
The U.S. continues to average over 100,000 new COVID cases each day – most of them the Delta variant – and is averaging over 1,300 deaths.
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U.S. is over 50 percent fully vaccinated
The vaccination rate of those with two doses or full protection now stands at 53 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University and the CDC.
‘We don’t feel appreciated’: Nurses in Alabama protest pay and conditions
Healthcare staff are protesting unequal compensation and poor working conditions as hospitals in the state cope with a surge in Delta cases.
WIAT, a local CBS affiliate, reports that more than two dozen nurses at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama refused to clock in for the night shift on Monday and instead gathered outside the hospital to demonstrate.
“It has been very overwhelming,” one nurse told WIAT. “We don’t feel appreciated. We want someone to come down and be willing to negotiate with us.”
READ MORE: Alabama Nurses Protest Wages, COVID Working Conditions
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COVID continues to cause serious problems for hospitals across southern U.S. states this morning as many see record numbers of patients dealing with the virus.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Tuesday for all the latest.
