Alabama now ranks fourth in the country for the most new COVID cases per capita as medical officials hope full federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine will persuade people to get vaccinated.  According to the numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University – Alabama ranked behind Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, for the most new cases in the past 14 days.

The FDA gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID vaccine on Monday, potentially boosting public confidence in the shots.  Alabama has one of the lowest vaccinations rates in the country – ranking just below Mississippi in the percentage of people who’ve been fully vaccinated.

Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the Alabama vaccine research clinic, said it will be hard to predict the impact of the approval but added it might improve vaccination rates by a few percentage points.

The Alabama Hospital Association on Monday stated that 84% of adults hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state are unvaccinated.

Intensive care units, particularly in some areas of the state, are being stressed by the wave of mostly unvaccinated patients

(AL.COM/www.al.com)