A “stable” number of active COVID-19 patients are being treated at The University of Kansas Health System today. 69 people with the active virus are hospitalized, down from 70 yesterday. 25 patients are in the ICU, down from 29 yesterday. 13 of those ICU patients are on ventilators today, down from 14 yesterday. 65 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID-19 but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 56 yesterday. That’s a total of 134 patients, up from 126 yesterday. In addition, HaysMed has a total of 22 COVID-19 inpatients, up from 19 yesterday, with 19 of those active patients and 3 in the recovery phase.
On the Morning Media Update today, Dr. Marissa Love joined the conversation to answer COVID-19 questions about allergies, vaccines and staying safe. She told us what she's recommending to patients and their biggest fears living with allergies.
Dr. Love says severe allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine is very rare…about one in a million, and there are very few known reasons not to get the vaccine. She does say, however, that if you do have a severe allergic reaction, you should be evaluated before getting the second dose. She says if you’re going to have any allergic reaction, it will come in the 15-30-minute waiting period required after receiving the vaccine, and she described what that reaction might look like and how it differs from more routine reactions. She says not every reaction is an allergic reaction. She advises those who have had COVID-19 and recovered to still get the vaccine because it offers better protection than any immunity they may have received from the illness. She also says those with asthma are not at any greater risk of getting COVID-19. Her best advice to those who may be concerned about an allergic risk from the vaccine is to reach out to an allergist.
Dana. Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System, says the vaccine protects you from severe symptoms of the disease but not necessarily from becoming infected at all. He says it’s still possible to spread the virus to others even after being vaccinated. He’s happy with the FDA’s decision to keep recommending the second dose rather than getting just one, as some have suggested in hopes of stretching the supply, because the data shows the two-dose regimen gives the most protection. He also reminds us that you should get the same manufacturer’s vaccine for both doses.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, notes that at the health system, as it is at other hospitals around the region, about 30 percent of workers are declining the vaccine, for various reasons. He says reports that some areas of Kansas report only a 50 percent vaccination rate may be due to slow data reporting in some cases, but says we need to emphasize the public awareness campaign to show the vaccine’s safety. He explained that the vaccine teaches your body to recognize and neutralize the virus and the risk from COVID-19 is much worse than any possible reaction from the vaccine. He says vaccines save lives and making the choice not to get it can affect the rest of the world and certainly the rest of your known world.
Thursday, January 7 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update. It's our 200th and we are excited about our guests. Our Dr. David Wild will join with a statistical look back at patients and the pandemic. Dr. David Lisbon will look back at how the pandemic has affected emergency medicine, plus thoughts on getting the vaccine to populations most at risk and Catherine Satterwhite, regional health administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will join with news of a federal initiative for maternal health and how it relates to COVID-19.
ATTENTION: media procedure for calling in:
The meeting is available by Zoom, both video and by phone. To join the Zoom Meeting by video, click https://kumc-ois.zoom.us/j/7828978628
Telephone dial-in Participants: PLEASE NOTE NEW PHONE NUMBER
For those without Zoom, call 1-312-626-6799, meeting ID: 782 897 8628.
The feed is also available via TVU grid. The TVU source is UoK_Health and is being made available to all.
Feel free to send questions in advance to medicalnewsnetwork@kumc.edu.
