The COVID-19 delta variant is proverbially running rampant across the country. On Aug. 27, Georgia recorded its second-highest daily total of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. On Thursday, it was reported that the Peach State is now facing the highest number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Despite health officials repeatedly claiming that vaccination is a useful weapon against the pandemic, many Georgians still feel hesitant about receiving Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson or Moderna’s vaccine shots. One UGA researcher believes that many people are simply misinformed when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination.

“I think there is some misunderstanding going around that if you had COVID-19, you don’t need to be vaccinated.” University of Georgia researcher John Drake said, speaking to 95.5 WSB’s Sabrina Cupit. “That’s not true.”

John Drake also noted that receiving a COVID-19 vaccination also provides significant protection against the threatening delta variant.

“One of the things that we found is that if you have the vaccination, even after having COVID, you have an immune response which is stronger, more reliable and more robust than if you just had the infection from the virus.” Drake said.

In the end, the UGA researcher explained that getting vaccinated will decrease the odds that you will need to be hospitalized for COVID-19.

“You’re a lot less likely to end up in the hospital if you had the vaccine than if you haven’t.” Drake finished.

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