On today’s Morning Media Update, The University of Kansas Health System reports an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients today. There are 20 people with the active virus being treated, an increase from 16 yesterday. Of those patients, six are in the ICU, the same as the past two days. One is on a ventilator. HaysMed has had two active infections for the past two days.
Pfizer’s request for approval on a third booster shot, sparked several questions from media and viewers for Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control at The University of Kansas Health System. He was joined by Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of infectious diseases and medical director of Infection Control and Epidemiology at Nebraska Medicine.
“I’ve been very impressed with the data to suggest the longevity of the vaccine response and the longer we go, the better it looks,” Dr. Rupp says. “Now we have some of these variants come along that do evade to some degree the protection from the vaccine, so a booster dose obviously is going to become much more important.”
Dr. Hawkinson reiterated that point and underscored that the guidance from the CDC and the FDA is still that if you are fully vaccinated, more than likely you are still going to have good protection, even if some of that protection is reduced over time. He said the Health System will continued to follow this information to share more about the potential need for any booster shots.
Dr. Rupp talked about the prevalence of the Delta variant in Nebraska, saying that, like other parts of the country, it is outcompeting other variants to be the dominant variant. He said that the data suggests the Delta variant is probably 40-50 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant.
“Luckily, the vaccine appears to be fairly protective, particularly if you’ve had the full doses – one vaccine dose is not enough,” Dr. Rupp says. “We need to just keep pushing as hard as we possibly can in all of our localities to (overcome) vaccine hesitancy and get this vaccine in as many arms of people as we possibly can.”
Dr. Rupp mentioned there are rural counties in Nebraska where vaccination rates are in the single digits. “This is really setting these counties up for outbreaks like we’ve seen in other parts of the country,” Dr. Rupp says. “I’m very, very concerned that we need to have a better vaccination rate, particularly in some of our rural areas.”
A question was asked about the Lambda variant, an emerging variant with very little information available about it. Dr. Rupp reassured that these variants are completely expected, but he has not seen a lot of data on this specific variant yet. Dr. Hawkinson agreed, adding that the Delta variant has been the most prevalent variant we’re seeing now, but we now have the technology to identify more variants as they emerge. He said they will continue to monitor the variant situation and how that might impact the need for vaccine boosters.
With back-to-school around the corner, a question was asked (this was before the CDC announced the change in guidance for mask usage in schools today) about the impact of unvaccinated students returning to college campuses.
Dr. Rupp believes that younger people have not embraced the vaccine the way older populations have because many younger people have a sense that they are young and healthy and that COVID-19 won’t impact them as much.
“What I would emphasize to those folks as we’re increasingly appreciating the ‘long-haul’ or ‘long COVID’, in which people with relatively mild disease, can have lingering symptoms that can last for months,” Dr. Rupp says.
Throughout the pandemic, staying healthy has been a challenge for many people, regardless of age. After Dr. Hawkinson and Dr. Rupp answered some important COVID questions, today’s program shifted to how physical and mental fitness is an important part of our lifestyle, especially as we try to recover from the pandemic.
Brett Carey, Director of Wellness at The University of Kansas Health System, Bri Stecklein, Wellness Manager at The University of Kansas Health System and Heidi Husk, Wellness Manager at Nebraska Medicine joined host Jessica Lovell to talk about some important ways to stay healthier during these difficult times, especially by doing some simple activities – like walking.
Walking can be a very impactful to a weight loss program. Research shows that you are likely to live longer if you walk at least 5.5 miles per week. Whether it is before or after work, or just parking a little bit further in the parking lot, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking is an easy way to burn extra calories. Start with small goals, celebrate success and put walking into your schedule.
A walking wager between The University of Kansas Health System and Nebraska Medicine will be decided Monday with the challenge results shared Tuesday on the Update.
“We’ve really evolved and have shifted the paradigm beyond just the physical or dietary aspects into more of the whole person,” Carey says. “That has never been more true after a year like we’ve just had.”
Monday, July 12 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Media Update, which will include Dr. Hawkinson and Dr. Stites providing dedicated updates on COVID-19 developments, which include new CDC guidance on mask wearing for students this fall.
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: 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.
