![]() “Make your appointment and we’ll be sure to get you a shot.” We have vaccines, they are not scarce,” Schepici said. The hospital is also continuing to partner with the vaccine bus to give people another option to get vaccinated. Appointments will also be added for the Martin Luther King Jr. There are plans for Saturday appointments to administer vaccines once the hospital has the staff to do so. The drive-through testing site is getting expanded hours on Mondays and Wednesdays until 7 pm. The hospital will be increasing its appointment availability. Seguin noted that last Friday marked one year since the hospital administered its first doses of the COVID vaccine to frontline hospital workers. Hospital beds are not only filling up with COVID patients, but those that require other urgent care like chronic or other ongoing care,” Schepici said. “In Boston the situation in a word is dire. The hospital has sent two samples to be tested for the omicron variant, which is known to be in Boston. Schepici said the issue is being felt across the state, as patients requiring hospital care have doubled in the last month. “This is the greatest number of positive cases we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic.” “This spike is of great concern,” Schepici said. This week the Island has had 29 new COVID cases - 12 on Sunday, seven on Monday, and 10 on Tuesday. Last week’s 112 new cases was the most reported in one week in 2021. The Island is seeing a spike in new cases. We have a surge plan should we get inundated with admissions,” she said. “Right now we have beds, we do mostly outpatient surgeries, we haven’t had to reduce surgeries, they don’t impact our bed situation. Schepici said there are contingency plans in place should the hospital fill up with patients, but for now the hospital has enough resources. Of the 52 patients that have been hospitalized at the Island’s hospital since January, 72 percent had not received a vaccine. Of those, 96.7 percent were never hospitalized. However, according to statistics gathered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 88,968 vaccinated individuals have been infected with COVID-19 since December 2020. The hospital does not release the vaccination status of patients to the press. “We know the vaccine is your best defense, and especially wearing a mask,” Schepici said. Schepici said the hospital is using all its available resources to get vaccines into people’s arms Additionally, a pediatric patient with COVID was transferred off-Island in serious condition. Of the other two hospitalized patients, one is in fair condition and the other is in good condition. Speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, Hospital president and CEO Denise Schepici and chief nurse and chief operating officer Claire Seguin told The Times this is the most hospitalizations the hospital has had at one time since the beginning of the pandemic. There are four patients hospitalized with COVID-19 - two in serious condition in the intensive care unit (ICU) - at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
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