Rise in younger COVID-19 cases shows vaccine is working among seniors

FOX 2 - "Vaccinations are our way out of this pandemic," said Dr. Adnan Munkarah.

But the reality is, we're not there yet, said Munkarah, chief clinical officer for Henry Ford Health System. The COVID-19 infection rate has increased across the country, with that increase here in Michigan. 

So Henry Ford Hospital locations in Detroit, Wyandotte and Macomb locations have reinstated visitor restrictions. 

"Over the past two weeks we have seen an increase of cases in Michigan," he said. "Almost a 133 percent increase in cases being diagnosed and also an increase in hospitalizations almost doubling." 

At Henry Ford Hospital, doctors are also seeing a trend in the Covid patients they are treating. 

"They are a younger group of patients who have not been vaccinated," said Munkarah.

Medical professionals believe this speaks of the vaccine's effectiveness in the senior population with dropping case numbers. 

"We know that these vaccines are working, and the reason is that the group being vaccinated now has a decrease in the number of positivity rates," said Munkarah. 

That's why doctors continue to push the need for those who are eligible to get vaccinated.

At Henry Ford Hospital the numbers according to Munkarah, look like this:

"We have administered over 204,000 doses of vaccines so far, we have fully vaccinated with completed doses over 84,280 people and we expect that number to exceed 100,000 by the end of the week," he said. 

Doctors say if everyone does their part, COVID-19 can be defeated.

"The progress we have been making with vaccination gives us hope that the end of the pandemic is in reach," he said. 

But that does not mean you can do away with safety protocols and PPE. 

"Wearing a mask, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings, washing our hands," he said. "All of these have helped us bring the rates down."