BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's coronavirus surge continued Thursday, with more than 4,400 new cases reported, but the state also continued to see a spike in vaccinations.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported 4,413 additional cases, and hospitalizations rose by 96, up to 1,620 Thursday afternoon. The positivity rate on Thursday's tests was about 12.19 percent.

On Wednesday the state reported just under 4,700 new COVID cases, with a positivity rate over 15 percent. 

Along with the ongoing spike in cases, however, the state also reported another period of increased vaccinations. On Thursday, health officials reported that 47,830 additional doses of the vaccine had been administered in the span of a few days. 

It continued a trend that began Monday when Louisiana reported 45,902 additional shots, a significant bump in doses administered compared to previous weeks. A week before that, on July 19, Louisiana reported only 26,870 total shots in that same amount of time. The state reported 30,290 additional shots in the next update on July 22.

Pharmacists are seeing the rush to get the shot firsthand.

"This has happened in the last 10 days that we've had an explosion," said Dr. John Dry with Dry's Pharmacy in Zachary. "It's been months and months since we saw this kind of demand. Both the demand for vaccines and the new prescriptions I'm seeing for covid."

As of Thursday afternoon, just under 37 percent of Louisiana was fully vaccinated. 

Hospitals have encouraged people to get vaccinated amid the latest surge.  Our Lady of the Lake posted a video online Thursday, urging those who are not vaccinated to get a shot.

We now have 140 #COVID19 patients in our hospital, more than any point since the pandemic began. It’s time we act now as a community to stop this unsustainable rise in hospitalizations.

Watch an important message from @katieoneallsu: pic.twitter.com/HH7iycgIvW

— Our Lady of the Lake (@ololhealth) July 29, 2021