A group of 75 doctors in South Florida staged a walkout earlier this week to draw attention to the overflowing hospitals in the state.
MSNBC reported that the doctors need people to be aware of the effect that the unvaccinated are having on their hospitals.
The protest drew national attention.
Dozens of Palm Beach County doctors urge community to get COVID-19 vaccine www.youtube.com
The frustrated physicians took time before their shifts on Monday from several different Florida hospitals to call out people who are refusing to get the vaccine. The walkout did not include abandoning their patients, but rather to draw attention to their dire situation.
The doctors claimed the people who refuse to get vaccinated despite being able to are overwhelming the health care system and pushing health care workers to the brink of exhaustion because of it.
Dr. Rupesh Dharia spoke at the press conference for the walkout and said:
"We are exhausted. Our patience and resources are running low, and we need your help."
If their actions didn't speak loud enough, their struggle and frustration is easily heard in the voices.
Florida has one of the highest rates of new infections in the country. More than 17,000 people are hospitalized with the disease, nearly a 25% increase over the last two weeks.
People sick with the virus are overwhelming hospitals. While it's possible to survive the disease, those who get it end up taking valuable hospital resources and space.
According to Dr. Kerry Sanders, one of the physicians who participated in the protest, 85% of ICU beds in the state are filled.
This increased and continued level of stress has taken its toll on hospital workers. Even other patients have become exhausted with this.
And this is despite the overwhelming evidence the vaccines help prevent infection, and in breakthrough cases, lessen the effects of infection to reduce hospitalization. And it's free to most people in this country.
It's understandable why doctors are frustrated.
Despite this, some people still tried to debate the issue online.
The doctors' staged walkout and protest came just before the Food and Drug administration gave the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine its full approval.
With this new approval, some places are looking to institute vaccine mandates.
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