Health Unit to hold drive-thru vaccinations Monday

The Avoyelles Health Unit at 657 Government Street in Marksville will have a National Guard drive-thru vaccination site Monday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This service is in addition to the walk-in vaccinations available every weekday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Dr. David Holcombe, Office of Public Health Region VI administrator/medical officer said their has been "an alarming jump in COVID cases everywhere in Louisiana related to the more transmissible Delta variant. This has led to a tripling of hospitalized COVID patients statewide."

Holcombe said those who have been vaccinated can be infected with the Delta variant and can transmit it. However, cases in vaccinated individuals have mild, or no, symptoms.

He said 99 percent of the recent hospitalizations for COVID have been unvaccinated individuals, leading to the current surge being called the "pandemic of the unvaccinated."

"Please be part of the solution and not part of the problem," Holcombe said. "Get vaccinated, get your children vaccinated and wear masks in crowded, indoor spaces for extra protection.

"It’s up to us to stop this destructive pandemic."