The COVID-19 numbers have dropped locally in the past few months, but officials are saying not to let your guard down as new variants have been discovered. Health officials are urging the public to get vaccinated as a possibly more infectious strain is spreading across the globe.
In DeKalb County, 113 people are currently hospitalized with coronavirus, with 4,280 total cases and 4,167 cases reported inactive or recovered. There have been 76 deaths attributed to the virus in DeKalb County.
The drop in cases is also being seen in neighboring counties with Warren County reporting 8,789 total cases with 8,573 reported recovered. They currently have 180 people hospitalized and 130 deaths.
Putnam County has had 17,007 total cases, with 16,642 recovered or inactive. They have 515 hospitalizations and attribute 225 deaths to the virus.
Neighboring Wilson County has been hit even harder. They report 27,653 total cases with 27,063 recovered. They have 728 hospitalized with 347 deaths reported.
Rutherford County is even bigger, with 63,420 total cases and 62,087 recovered. They have 1,304 hospitalized and have reported 578 deaths.
Many of the most recent cases have been attributed to the Delta variant of COVID-19, which is reported as more contagious and is spread more easily, but now officials are warning of an even more contagious variant, Omicron. Based on early evidence seen in South Africa, the Omicron variant is transmitting faster than the Delta variant.
According to the World Health Organization, Omicron is a "variant of concern" due to how quickly it has spread through South Africa. The surge in cases led to the variant being identified on November 9.
The WHO labels the variant risk as 'very high' with cases being reported in multiple countries. Countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere have detected cases since the first infections were found in southern Africa, leading to a travel ban by the U.S. The White House has restricted travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, but many health officials fear the variant may already be in the States.
Due to a possible third wave, health officials are urging the public to get vaccinated, and if they have been vaccinated, to get the available booster shot. While the vaccine is not mandated in Tennessee, the state strongly recommends that Tennesseans who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine get the vaccine.
All COVID-19 vaccines are safe and go through the same careful process as every other vaccine. Both the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were found to be safe during research studies with no serious events among tens of thousands of volunteers who received the vaccines. The vaccine will also continue to be monitored to make sure that any rare problems are found as soon as possible and evaluated to see if they were caused by the vaccine.
There are short-term mild or moderate reactions that resolve without complication. Very rarely, there have been people who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine who had severe allergic reactions.
While some people who receive a COVID-19 vaccine may develop soreness or fatigue as their immune system responds, remember that this is common when receiving any vaccine and is not considered serious or life-threatening. You cannot get COVID-19 infection from the COVID-19 vaccines; they are inactivated vaccines and not live vaccines.
It is not possible to get COVID-19 from the vaccines. The vaccines do not contain the virus. While the vaccine may not be 100 percent effective in preventing getting COVID-19, health officials say those who have been immunized have far less symptoms and effects from the virus.
