meanwhile, from the front line:
Dec. 10, 2021
(CNN)Nurse Katie Sefton never thought Covid-19 could get this bad -- and certainly not this late in the pandemic.
"I was really hoping that we'd (all) get vaccinated and things would be back to normal," said Sefton, an assistant manager at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan.
"We have more patients than we've ever had at any point, and we're seeing more people die at a rate we've never seen die before," said Jim Dover, president and CEO of Sparrow Health System.
Katie Sefton said she's now seeing younger patients die from Covid-19.
"Since January, we've had about 289 deaths; 75% are unvaccinated people," Dover said. "And the very few (vaccinated people) who passed away all were more than 6 months out from their shot. So we've not had a single person who has had a booster shot die from Covid."
Among the new Covid-19 victims, Sefton said she's noticed a disturbing trend.
"We're seeing a lot of younger people. And I think that is a bit challenging," said Sefton, a 20-year nursing veteran.
She recalls helping the family of a young adult say goodbye to their loved one.
"It was an awful night," she said. "That was one of the days I went home and just cried."
'We haven't peaked yet'
It's not just Michigan that's facing an arduous winter with Covid-19. Nationwide, Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased 40% compared to a month ago, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
"We keep talking about how we haven't peaked yet," Sefton said.
Sparrow Hospital nurse Danielle Williams said the vast majority of her Covid-19 patients are not vaccinated -- and had no idea they could get pummeled so hard by Covid-19.
"Before they walked in the door, they had a normal life. They were healthy people. They were out celebrating Thanksgiving," Williams said. "And now they're here, with a mask on their face, teary eyed, staring at me, asking me if they're going to live or not."
'The next few weeks look hard'
Dover said he's saddened but not surprised that his state is getting walloped with Covid-19.
"Michigan is not one of the highest vaccination states in the nation. So it continues to have variant after variant grow and expand across the state," he said.