The number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System is slightly higher today. Five patients with the active virus are being treated, up from four yesterday. Of those patients, one is in the ICU, the same as yesterday. There are no patients on ventilators, and there have been none since May 24. Six other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, the same as yesterday. That’s a total of 11 patients, up from ten yesterday. HaysMed reports one recovering patient, the same as yesterday.
On today’s Morning Media Update, U.S. Representative Sharice Davids from Kansas and KDHE Secretary Dr. Lee Norman joined with updates on the COVID-19 battle at the state and Federal levels. Also, we showed what an actual spike protein looks like in three dimensions.
Before beginning the discussion, Dr. Paul Camerata, a neurosurgeon at The University of Kansas Health System, dropped by with something pretty amazing to see. He showed a 3-D model of an actual spike protein, in full color, which took 22 hours for the health system’s new generation, state-of-the-art printer to produce. Normally neurosurgeons use the printer to create 3-D images of a patient’s brain to help them prepare for surgery. But this model will be used to help teach students about spike proteins. Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, explained what we were looking at, and why it differs so much from the artist’s conceptions of spike proteins we’re used to seeing. He also explained how spike proteins work in the COVID-19 process and how vaccines work on them.
Representative Davids explained how the pandemic has had a devastating impact on all of us and changed our lives in one way or another. But she’s noticed with more people being vaccinated, people are starting to be able to hug their families again. “Things are starting to feel a little more like normal…the sun’s coming through the clouds here.” She says she’s most proud of the COVID-19 relief from the Federal government for businesses and individuals. She doesn’t think the data shows unemployment benefits are keeping people at home and away from work and says the aid has been a lifeline for so many people. She also says she’s working hard to keep telehealth alive because it’s been vital to those in smaller communities during the pandemic. But she says that can’t happen unless people can access it from home, which is why access to broadband internet is also vital, and something she’s pushing for. She feels she’s set an example by being fully vaccinated and urges everyone to do the same.
Dr. Norman said even though the state’s emergency declaration will expire on June 15, the effects will be “relatively unseen by the public.” Most importantly, he says, “It doesn’t mean the virus has magically gone away.” The state still sees 100 new cases a day and one to three deaths every day. He says, “If we had one to three deaths per day from something else that was preventable, there would be rioting in the streets.” He reports 50 percent of Kansans are fully vaccinated, but we won’t reach the president’s goal of 70 percent by July 4th. He’s glad to see schools starting to ramp up vaccinations, but he feels masks will still be necessary in classrooms, pointing to CDC guidance that unvaccinated people wear a mask. That applies to the 420,000 Kansas children under 12, who have no approved vaccine yet. He notes that because of wastewater testing and air sampling, his department can see that all of the variants, including those from the hot spots in rural Missouri, are in Kansas. He’s frustrated by those who refuse to get vaccinated claiming it’s “experimental.” He says with more than a billion doses safely given, it’s one of the most tested products in modern history. He explains, “The fact it doesn’t have full FDA approval, and they will, the fact that they don’t, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s experimental. I think that conjures up something that’s maybe not intended, but I think it is used occasionally to dissuade people. But this is really not an experiment, it’s a very well-established vaccine.”
Dr. Hawkinson says even if you don’t think you’ll get sick from COVID-19, getting the vaccination is an act of charity to help people around you since you still pose a risk to others. You’ll also protect yourself as well. He says we’ve also learned a lot from real-world experience about masks and how they protect you from both getting and giving the virus. He stressed the importance of getting the second dose of the vaccine saying it will give you maximum protection, far more than any natural immunity you may have received from contracting the virus itself. He feels those who continue to think the vaccines are experimental are not keeping up with the science.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, stressed that vaccination is our path out of this pandemic. He pointed to events like this past weekend at the Speedway, in which 166 people got theirs, as ways we’re doing that. He says vaccinations will keep us, our loved ones and all of society safe because they are safe.
Wednesday, June 9 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. The Kansas Leadership Center is back to talk about a conversation they're trying to have with 750,000 Kansans who are on the fence on whether to get vaccinated. Ed O'Mally, president and CEO is joined by Julia Fabris McBride, project lead for the Kansas Beats the Virus campaign.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
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