Doctors from Duke, UNC-REX and WakeMed hospitals all echoed the same three messages on Thursday: get vaccinated, get boosted and avoid emergency rooms if you aren't seriously ill.

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Getting vaccinated and boosted is the key to staying out of hospitals or becoming seriously ill from coronavirus, all three physicians urged. At WakeMed and UNC hospitals, 100% of COVID-19 patients on ventilators are unvaccinated, they said.

At all WakeMed hospitals, only 1 in 10 ICU patients are fully vaccinated, and at Duke, all the patients on ECMO, a form of life support used for only the sickest patients, are unvaccinated.