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The Daily Ardmoreite
Doctors and nurses at Mercy Hospital Ardmore in January were torn between hope from a new COVID-19 vaccine and distress over a record number of hospitalizations spurred by an ongoing pandemic. As hospital beds overflowed into emergency department hallways and waiting rooms early this year, Oklahoma health care workers were finally receiving their second shot of vaccines and the end of the pandemic felt closer than ever.
But almost seven months later, vaccine rates in Carter County have stalled below one-third of the population and local health care providers worry about another uncontrollable surge in infections. The mixture of hope and despair they felt at the beginning of the year is now joined by frustration as a new variant of COVID-19 continues to ravage the middle of the country despite widespread vaccine availability.
County woman among 35 new virus deaths statewide
The Daily Ardmoreite
January has recorded eight COVID-19 deaths in Carter County after a dramatic spike in cases locally following the holidays. Data from the state health department shows Oklahoma still recording an average of over 2,500 new cases each day, well below record highs but still higher than anything recorded in the state before November.
A Carter County woman between 50 and 64 years old officially became the 26th person in the county to die from COVID-19, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Public Health daily situation report on Thursday. Her death was among 35 deaths reported statewide by OSDH on Thursday which sent the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 3,423.