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BY NIC MILLER
STAR STAFF
nic.miller@elizabethton.com

As cases of COVID-19 increase again in the area, one medical clinic is seeing an increase in demand for vaccine booster shots.

Ballad Health Systems this week reported a monthly high for in-patient COVID-19 cases. The hospital system reported 143 cases on Nov. 19, with additions of 28 more patients on Monday and another 30 admissions on Tuesday. Those admissions included 40 people in the ICU and 30 patients on ventilators. State data also shows a rise in overall COVID-19 cases.

That’s why the staff at one medical center continues to encourage already vaccinated residents to get booster shots, if they are able to do so.

“Boosters are a lot different for high risk or older patients because the risk profile is vastly different between them and a child, ” said Steve Hopland, CEO of Medical Care PLLC in Elizabethton. “We are recommending and giving out boosters, especially for those higher risk patients, something that we have been doing for quite a while.”

The Centers for Disease Control recommend all adults ages 18 and older receive a booster host at least six months after completing the primary COVID-19 vaccination series.

“It has for the most part been the older population that has decided to receive a booster shot, as someone who is older is most likely already going to the doctor multiple times a year. As we see them, we recommend the booster to them and most of them receive it, meaning less resistance and higher vaccination rates than that of the younger population,” Hopland said.

Hopland said demand for COVID vaccines for children has not been as high. The CDC recently approved the vaccine for all children ages 5-17.

“We haven’t had a super high demand for those at our clinic,” he said. “There was not a huge rush for people to get the vaccine for their children, but we have had some people come and have their child get vaccinated. .. We do make it available to the people that want it, but we are not pushing or forcing anyone who does not want the vaccine to do so.”

Along with those numbers, the Tennessee Department of Health reported 169 new cases of coronavirus in Northeast Tennessee along with six new deaths on Wednesday, 12 of those cases and one of those deaths coming from Carter County.

Since the pandemic began, Carter County has recorded 10,831 total cases of the virus as well as 227 deaths, while all of Northeast Tennessee has seen 93,514 cases and 1,558 deaths.

Medical Care in Elizabethton offers both the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for all ages five and over, as well as booster doses of the vaccine. Their hours are from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday.

For more information on Covid-19 or to schedule an appointment, contact the clinic at (423) 929-2584.