TOLEDO, Ohio — In Lucas County, nearly 60% of people are vaccinated.
This comes as new infections in our area have started to come down since the beginning of December. But the number of people in our hospitals continues to rise.
The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department is urging residents to get vaccinated and boosted, as both have shown increased immunity against the virus.
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With information about the omicron COVID-19 variant being more infectious than delta, health leaders also believe the virus, paired with the holidays, will lead to a jump in cases come January.
"We don't want to take the chance of either or," Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said. "Even if it's not as severe as delta, we're still going to have increased numbers reported in hospitals. Just imagine, if it's more infectious you're going to have more people who get sick over delta and a rare portion of those people will be reporting to hospitals because of concerns."
The health commissioner says there's still not enough information to know if omicron is milder than delta, but says the vaccine has helped with severe symptoms.
In a matter of weeks, omicron became the most common COVID variant in the US.
It's pushing the Lucas County Health Department to urge Toledoans to stay safe and take precautions as gatherings with family and friends for the holidays are just days away.
Health leaders believe the holiday season and the easily transmissible omicron variant are going to cause a significant increase in infections after the new year.
"We still have the disease out there which is still going to impact people to the extent that they are going to pass," Zgodzinski said. "Whether it's not as severe as an omicron variant or not. It's not just not going to affect people. There is going to be a segment of our population that is going to end up with very negative consequences. Maybe not as much as delta, maybe more, maybe just as much."
The health commissioner says he knows we are all COVID fatigued, but the only way we will get through this is by getting tested, vaccinated, wearing your mask and staying home if you're feeling sick.