GOP Governor Larry Hogan Says Unvaccinated Residents Are 'Overflowing Hospitals'

Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan recently said that the state's unvaccinated population is "overflowing hospitals" amid a rise in COVID-19 cases.

During a recent appearance on CNN's State of the Union, Hogan spoke about the COVID-19 vaccination rate in Maryland and how it is "one of the most vaccinated in the country," but noted a rise in hospitalizations.

"We have 92 percent of our state vaccinated here in Maryland, one of the most vaccinated in the country. But we have overflowing hospitals," Hogan said. "And so that 8 percent of the population who has not been vaccinated is responsible for 75 percent of all the people that are filling up our COCID beds in the hospital."

Hogan continued, "Here we are nearly two years later, and it's like deja vu. We're faced with this emerging variant, very similar problems to what we had in the beginning."

According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 84 percent of hospital beds in Maryland are currently occupied, including 24 percent that are being used by COVID-19 patients.

Data from HHS also shows that 73 percent of all intensive care unit (ICU) beds in Maryland are currently in use. According to the data, 33 percent of ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.

According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Maryland is also seeing a rise in newly confirmed COVID-19 cases. As of December 29, the state was averaging around 8,000 newly confirmed cases per day. In comparison, a month earlier, Maryland was reporting around 900 newly confirmed cases per day.

Last week, the Maryland Hospital Association issued a press release, warning that "hospitals are nearly full, and emergency departments are stretched incredibly thin."

"The statewide number of COVID inpatients at Maryland hospitals is now more than 2,000— surpassing the previous all-time high of 1,952 COVID inpatients reached nearly one year ago, Jan. 11, 2021," Maryland Hospital Association said. "Most of the people being treated for COVID in our hospitals are unvaccinated. Get vaccinated and boosted. Wear masks, keep social distance, and wash your hands."

During his appearance on State of the Union, Hogan also spoke about his own COVID-19 infection and how the different vaccines have shown to work against the novel virus.

"These vaccines were designed to help stop serious illness and death. And they're working beautifully that way," he said. "Luckily, because I was fully vaccinated and boosted, I didn't get really sick."

Newsweek reached out to Hogan for further comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.