An appeal from Dr. Blanchard

I am back today ( to update you on our situation at North Mississippi Health Services and to continue to seek your help. We are all in this together.
As of Wednesday, Aug. 11, we had 71 COVID-19 inpatients, plus an additional 18 COVID-19 patients being managed in our Emergency Departments because we do not have capacity for them in our hospitals. These numbers are greater than our numbers in January 2021. From July 1 through Aug. 11, we have cared for another 144 COVID-19 patients. To our knowledge only 11 of those 144 patients had been vaccinated. Twenty-six of those 144 patients died; none of those, based on our medical records, had been vaccinated. Of the 26 who died, 18 were younger than 65 years of age and six were between the ages of 18 and 49 years old. Two weeks prior to their admission to our hospitals, each of these individuals were living normal lives. I am heartbroken at their passing. Please support their loved ones and our caregivers who lose a bit of themselves with each passing.