Dr. Henry Kaufman, with our Lady of Lourdes, said when it comes to Covid-19 and where the numbers are going, he relies on the data.
"Every day, the first thing I do when I wake up is go online and look at the Covid cases in the hospitals, region, and what the predictions are," Kaufman said. "They are generally stable from week to week and highly accurate throughout the pandemic and where we're going."
Those predictions show an uptick in cases come September and October.
"We don't yet know what the slope of that change will be and how quickly those cases will rise," Kaufman said. "We are concerned about those rise in cases. Those predictive models are on a statewide level and not a regional level. Here in Lafayette, we're already seeing a significant increase in cases in the past month."
Kaufman said the easiest solution, but also one of their biggest hurdles, is getting people vaccinated.
"The one thing that we've shown over the last year is that vaccines are extremely safe," Kaufman said. "We've had millions and millions of people get vaccinated. Side effects are not completely unheard of, but they are extremely rare. The odds of you being hurt or killed by Covid is a thousand times more likely than having an adverse effect to taking the vaccine. Are vaccines 100 percent safe? No. Are they highly safe and effective and your best way to be protected against Covid, and a more serious infection that could end your life or result in a significant long-term disability? Absolutely."
Right now, just over 35 percent of Louisianans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
"We strongly encourage vaccination right now as the best way for all of us to make it through this pandemic and not have any more restrictions on what we want to do moving forward."
On Saturday, July 17, Our Lady of Lourdes is hoping to increase those numbers with a Back-to-School Vaccination Clinic. Those who get their first of the two dose shot will have the second dose before school starts.
The Clinic, open to children 12 and over, will take place at the Kids Specialty Center on Our Lady of Lourdes Women's and Children's campus in Lafayette.
The event is from 10am to 2pm and you're asked to register ahead of time at the link below:
https://lourdesrmc.com/coronavirus/back-to-school-covid-19-vaccine-clinic