The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 50 COVID patients today, down from 57 yesterday. Other significant numbers:
- 26 with the active virus today, 32 yesterday
- 2 in ICU, 3 yesterday
- 1 on ventilator, 1 yesterday
- 24 hospitalized but out of acute infection phase, 25 yesterday
Key points from today’s guests:
Dr. Gregory Poland, Mayo Clinic, infectious diseases, Director Mayo Vaccine Research Group
- Very concerned that 68 million Americans still have not had any COVID vaccine
- To those who think it’s just the flu, he points out that last week four people in America died from the flu while 1,055 people died from COVID
- Believes the weariness many are having with the pandemic, some calling it “over,” and says that attitude “portends very bad things for America.”
- Believes “a rational examination of the data” shows we need to go back to masking, especially when indoors among people who are not your family
- Explained how the COVID vaccines were brought to the public faster than traditional vaccines, why they are completely safe and not at all experimental
- Says if we don’t have any new variants, or the current variants are less able to evade immunity, “maybe we’ll start to glide toward a more normal path this winter.”
- The more likely scenario, he adds, is with the lackadaisical attitude of the country, a pent up demand for holiday travel, lack of masking and a low immunization rate, we’ll have a surge in both COVID and flu cases.
- Feels we will eventually get back to some semblance of normal, but it will be a new normal. “We are not going to ever be rid of coronavirus. Just like with the flu pandemic of 1918, we’re still immunizing against that more than 100 years later.”
Rick Couldry, VP Pharmacy and Health Professions, The University of Kansas Health System
- It’s OK to mix and match with boosters, in other words getting a Moderna booster if you’ve had Pfizer originally
- COVID boosters are still distributed through state and local health departments
- Novavax is another vaccine that’s available, developed in a little different way from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines
- Flu shot season is here and it’s OK to get a flu shot and a COVID booster at the same time
- Flu vaccines are most effective and give the longest protection if given in late October
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- While the nationwide trend of COVID patients is lower, the numbers are still fairly high in the health system
- The vast majority of those hospitalized are not vaccinated or not up to date on boosters
Thursday, September 29 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. More than 82 million Americans have a heart condition. Thursday is World Heart Day, and we’ll share remarkable stories from a panel of patients benefitting from the latest therapies and technology that cardiovascular care has to offer.
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