Coronavirus vaccine and Delta variant updates for 9-20-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for September 20th, 2021.</p><p><br></p><p>Many are trying to get religious exemptions from the vaccine right now. But religious leaders are saying, we don’t agree with you. Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said there’s no exemption for them for religious reasons. The Evangelical Lutheran Church said “there’s no evident basis for religious exemption.” The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said any priest issuing an exemption letter would be “acting in contradiction” to statements from the Pope. The influential, politically involved Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist megachurch in Dallas said they “are not encouraging members to seek religious exemptions because there’s no credible religious argument against the vaccines. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also doesn’t provide religious exemptions for its members.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Some good news around hospitalizations in some areas. The LA County Department of Public Health said they had a decrease of close to 100 people from last week’s hospitalization number. And in Florida they had 417 fewer patients from Saturday to Sunday. COVID patients are occupying 15.9% of inpatient beds.</p><p><br></p><p>A startling statistic out of Alabama. The state had more people die last year during the onset of the pandemic than were born. That means 2020 will be the first year in the history of the state with more deaths than births.</p><p><br></p><p>They really aren’t talked about much, the sufferers of long COVID. A study published in the CDC Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report showed about a third of COVID survivors still had health problems two months later. Long Covid can encompass a wide variety of symptoms and there’s not enough research on who might be more likely to suffer from it.</p><p><br></p><p>Comedian Chris Rock announced he tested positive for Covid-19. The 56-year-old, who was vaccinated with the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine, wrote, “Trust me y