Young patients in intensive care units increasing, says expert

ISTANBUL

The number of young people being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals’ intensive care units (ICU) is increasing, an expert has said, adding that ICUs are packed with unvaccinated people.

“There are people from all age groups in ICUs. However, we observe that the Delta variant of COVID-19 has some serious effects on unvaccinated young people. The number of young people in those units is increasing as they are reluctant to get the jabs,” said Professor Sema Turan, the head of ICU at Ankara City Hospital and a member of the Health Ministry’s Science Board, which advises the government on the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noted that besides unvaccinated patients, the second large group of people in ICUs are those who had received two doses of [the Chinese] Sinovac jab but missed the booster shot.

Turkey started to administer vaccine booster shots in July.

Turan also warned against yet another peak of coronavirus cases in autumn.

“All necessary measures should be taken to avoid a possible peak in September. If the vaccination drive continues effectively, the admissions to ICUs could be far less than seen during the previous peaks,” she said.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca took to Twitter to renew his call on the public to get the virus jab.

“The vaccine is our best weapon. But it would be effective if two doses are administered. Get vaccinated and stick to anti-virus rules until immunity is developed. Without those measures, the vaccine alone cannot produce the desired result,” Koca tweeted on Aug. 8.

The minister previously warned that the number of fully vaccinated people was not enough to combat the pandemic.

According to data from the Health Ministry, over 29 million people have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which corresponds to some 47 percent of the population aged 18 and above.

Nearly, 47 million people have been given the first dose of the jab, while more than 5.6 million people have received the booster shot.

Turkey, which launched its vaccination drive on Jan. 14, has administered well over 76 million vaccine doses to date.

Experts and officials are urging people to get vaccinated as the number of daily coronavirus cases started to pick up toward the end of July.

The infections climbed to record highs in April, exceeding 60,000 cases, but they dropped significantly in June to hover at around 5,000 to 6,000. Since June 28, the number of daily cases has remained above 20,000.