The University of Kansas Health System reports a slight increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated today. 11 people with the active virus are being treated, up from ten yesterday. Of those patients, five are in the ICU, up from two yesterday. One of those patients is on a ventilator, same as yesterday. 15 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 13 yesterday. That’s a total of 26 patients, up from 23 yesterday. HaysMed reports two COVID-19 patients today, one active and one in the recovery phase, compared to one active patient yesterday.
On today’s Morning Media Update, Marian Ramirez- Mantilia, Director of Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health at KU Medical Center and Dr. Edward Ellerbeck, chair of Population Health joined us to offer a big picture look at the RADx-UP program and how they are working to empower local community teams to advance testing and vaccination.
Dr. Ellerbeck outlined the RADx-UP program, a $500 million NIH initiative, explaining that it stands for Rapid Acceleration and Diagnostics in Underserved Populations. The program looks at how to speed up test results and get the testing to the most people in minority communities. It also focuses on helping those community members understand the importance of vaccinations. They identified ten counties in Kansas, both urban and rural, which have been some of the hardest hit in the pandemic. Many include essential workers such as meatpackers and large immigrant populations. They have been focused on getting representatives in those at-risk communities to help with ways to best communicate and deal with those challenges. That includes community meetings with clergy and respected scientists. He says the message is the same for both testing and for vaccinations: You don’t do it for yourself, you do it for those you love. He also said he’s planning some major trips later this year, but his ability to do so depends on a lot more people getting vaccinated. He’s optimistic that will happen.
Marian Ramirez- Mantilia explained how they have been working with Latino, African American and immigrant communities across Kansas to develop messaging, especially in Spanish, which was lacking at the beginning of the pandemic. She showed examples of the campaign using a little parrot called Lorito, a cousin of the Jayhawk, to get the messages out and help dispel myths such as tracking chips in the vaccine. She says there is still a certain level of distrust, and communication barriers, which make it harder for some communities to have full buy-in for the vaccine. She described the role of community care workers, who are trusted members of their communities, and how important they have been in helping overcome fears by helping with access to testing and vaccination events and even food and rental assistance. They have also been helpful in assuring residents their information will not be shared with authorities like immigration officials. She says clear statewide messaging that the vaccine is both safe and confidential is vital.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, addressed the question of whether it seems strange that 2500 deaths have been reported after taking the vaccine, but none have been attributed to the vaccine itself. He says each death is investigated and so far, are found to have been from existing conditions. He said there is no need to take an aspirin before getting the vaccine in the belief it will help avoid blood clotting. For those who feel getting the vaccine is fruitless because COVID-19 is here to stay, he says we have faith, hope and science to help us realize we can get back closer to 2019 than 2020. He says it’s going to take baby steps, but we are getting there.
David Wild, MD, VP of Performance Improvement at The University of Kansas Health System, is in for Dr. Stites. He says one way to convey the message that the science has made us sure the vaccines are safe and the right thing to do is to point out this one fact: 90 percent of doctors in the country have received their complete vaccinations. He says that wouldn’t be the case if any of them felt it was a risk to them, their patients or their families. He hopes that helps push some of the hesitant or undecided toward getting the vaccine.
Friday, April 2 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. As the Royals season opens, Dr. Vince Key, Head Team Physician, will join to talk about COVID-19 and spring baseball, including what we've learned from last year and what's new. We'll also have Lance Williamson, Infection Prevention and Control Nurse Supervisor here to help answer community and media questions.
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