Delta Variant Rips Unvaccinated Maverick Countians, 10 Dead in Two Weeks
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
The highly contagious and deadly Delta variant of COVID-19 has ripped through the unvaccinated in Eagle Pass and Maverick County, Texas, claiming the lives of at least 10 Maverick Countians in the last two weeks, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), official COVID-19 state agency. The cumulative total of fatalities is now at 377 people in Maverick County.
Many Maverick Countians are mourning the unnecessary deaths of fellow local citizens, family, relatives, and friends who have passed away tragically in the past two weeks from the lethal Delta variant of COVID-19, most of whom were unvaccinated.
On Thursday, September 9, 2021, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas, Jr. and Maverick County Judge David R. Saucedo announced the most recent death of a 41 year old male who was unvaccinated at the joint press conference of the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
Mayor Salinas noted COVID-19 is currently highly transmissible in Eagle Pass and Maverick County, reporting a total of 24 confirmed positive patients hospitalized at the sole hospital in the community, Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center, with 10 people in Intensive Care Unit and all 10 are on ventilators fighting for their lives and another 14 people in the Medical Floor plus six additional people under investigation. The Delta variant situation in Eagle Pass and Maverick County is extremely dire, particularly among people who are unvaccinated.
Both Salinas and Saucedo highly encourage all Eagle Pass and Maverick County citizens who are 12 years or older to get the COVID-19 vaccine through an EOC Vaccine Clinic, next one is on Friday, September 10, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Center located at 480 South Adams Street in Eagle Pass, the United Medical Centers, Maverick County Hospital District, the local pharmacies of H.E.B., Walgreen’s, and Walmart, or a private healthcare provider. There is an abundant supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the community.
According to DSHS, there are 209 active COVID-19 cases in Maverick County plus another 265 probable cases, a cumulative of 12,007 confirmed positive cases, 377 fatalities, and 124 new confirmed positive cases on Thursday, September 9, 2021. The Delta variant is easily infecting those who are unvaccinated in the community.
Texas is among the states with the highest number of confirmed positive cases, fatalities, and hospitalizations in the United States. DSHS reported 23,700 new confirmed positive COVID-19 cases, another 5,907 probable cases, 408 fatalities, and 13,486 hospitalized Texans as of September 9, 2021.
However, over 57,932 Texans have died from COVID-19 since February of 2020, 3,156,301 confirmed positive cases, and another 606,725 probable cases as of September 9, 2021. Texas public health experts note that the actual numbers are much higher than reported by DSHS.
Only 14.1 million Texans out of 29 million, 48.5% total, are fully vaccinated, leaving 14.9 million Texans who are not fully vaccinated, a total of 51.37%. This high percentage of Texans who are not fully vaccinated has allowed the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus to cause a serious public health crisis within the state, leaving many hospitals overwhelmed and with a shortage of ICU beds available to treat the surging Delta variant patients.
Maverick County has total of 59.7% of its population fully vaccinated, leaving 40.3% without vaccination or having only one dose of the vaccine. Maverick County has an estimated 60,000 population, leaving at least 24,180 citizens without the COVID-19 vaccine or with at least one dose only. This high percentage rate of unvaccinated people is fertile ground for the deadly Delta variant to continue causing more infections, hospitalizations, and fatalities among Maverick Countians.
