Vibrant Health care workers in Kansas City, Kansas, are receiving COVID-19 vaccines, according to officials.
Patrick Sallee, Vibrant Health CEO, said at the Monday morning news conference at the University of Kansas Health System that health care workers who were interested in receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have received it. The vaccine was received at the clinic on Dec. 22.
Sallee said about half the staff were interested in getting the vaccine while half were on the fence about it. A couple had side effects, but nothing significant, he added.
He said some of the staff had COVID-19 earlier in the year and felt it was unnecessary for them to have a vaccine at this time, that they think they may already have immunity. Some did not completely understand what was in the vaccine and how it would work. Others were concerned about the vaccine and wanted to wait and see what happens, he said.
Dr. Steven Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said about 65 percent of the health care workers at the hospital are getting the vaccine.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is also being shared with other health care workers on the front lines. Sallee said Vibrant Health is working closely with the Unified Government Health Department, which has a testing site and vaccine site at the former Kmart building at 78th and State Avenue.
Vibrant also gave 250 shots to the KU Health System according to instructions from KDHE that the vaccine should go to front line workers first.
Sallee said health officials expect to start Phase 1B in mid-January, which will include those who are over 75, and high-risk patients. He said Vibrant Health also is preparing to offer COVID-19 vaccines later. At this point, it looks like it might be March to April when healthy people ages 20 to 40 can get vaccinated, he said. Given the number of people who are not getting the vaccine now, the opportunities may be there earlier for others, although no one really knows, he added.
Dr. Stites said that when people who have passed up the vaccine start to see that those who receive the vaccine can do activities that others can’t, there may be a sense from those who passed it up that they want to get the vaccine. There will be a pivot point, but he doesn’t know what it will be yet, and that pivot point will define whether they get people through rapidly or very slowly, he said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, the medical director of infection prevention and control at KU Health System, said they are starting to see that some private entities will mandate that people get the vaccine in order to travel or go to a concert.
He plans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday morning’s live news conference, which is accessible on the KU Health System Facebook page.
Dr. Stites said there have been no significant side effects to the vaccine at KU Health System.
Dr. Hawkinson said the vaccine is not new technology; the platform has been there and this was the first time it has been needed to ramp it up quickly. Contrary to social media reports, they are not seeing Bell’s palsy locally as a side effect in this vaccine. It was reported that there were four cases of it out of 30,000 patients in the Pfizer vaccine trial, he said.
“It’s proven and shown to be safe so far,” Dr. Hawkinson said.
At Vibrant Health, about 45 percent of the patients have no insurance, so they are on a sliding fee scale, according to Sallee. Other patients are on private insurance, Medicaid and Medicare. In 2019, they saw about 10,000 patients at three locations in Wyandotte County, and the number is a little down this year because of COVID-19, he added. The clinic sees a lot of patients who have high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic disease management, he said.
“There will be a significant push from us, once we are able to open it to patients, to try to get the vaccine out,” he said.
Sallee said Vibrant Health is not seeing the same number of colds and flu, and other illnesses, it usually sees at this time of year. He attributed that to schools being virtual in some districts and people following the health guidelines, wearing masks and distancing.
At KU Health System, they’re not seeing the same number of patients as last year.
Dr. Hawkinson said whether it’s routine care or emergency care, the numbers are lower, and they believe people are not coming in for their routine or emergency care because of the pandemic. Influenza rates also are low around the nation, he said.
People need to get their routine examinations and routine care, he said, and continue their medical care. He said hospitals are safe because of all the health precautions that are taken.
Sallee said one of the long-time pediatricians at Vibrant Health was one of the first to take the vaccine. They plan to let the community know that people they trust, including physicians and community leaders, are getting the vaccines. Leaders will speak with their groups, he said, to let people know that the vaccines are safe.
Vaccine hesitancy is seen sometimes in populations that have issues historically with experimentation, without their permission.
“The hesitancy is OK, but continue to understand and seek those true answers and true knowledge, so you can come to a true decision on whether you want to get it or not want to get it,” Dr. Hawkinson said.
There also is information in the Moderna vaccine data that those who get the vaccine might help reduce the risk of the spread of the disease, which is another thing to consider – to protect other people.
A strain found in England appears to be more transmissible, but does not appear to have an effect on the disease severity, according to Dr. Hawkinson. Apparently none of the vaccines is rendered useless with the new variant, he said. They will continue to monitor it, he added.
It will be necessary to continue wearing masks, distancing, not gathering in groups, washing hands and staying home when sick, according to Dr. Hawkinson.
Dr. Hawkinson reported that numbers in the hospital were down on Monday morning. There were 56 acute infections in the hospital, 24 in the intensive care unit and 18 on the ventilator. There were 61 in the post-10 day recovery period, he said, with seven of them still on the ventilator.
HaysMed in Hays, Kansas reported 27 COVID-19 inpatients, with 21 active and six in recovery.
He said he hoped the lower numbers here were due to getting the message out to wear masks, distance and not gather in private homes.
Dr. Stites said the hospitalization numbers have been down in Greater Kansas City, and it will be interesting to see what happens after the holidays are over. He has noticed improvements in people not gathering together, wearing masks and distancing.
Case numbers reported
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 34 COVID-19 cases on Monday, Dec. 28, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There were a cumulative 14,225 cases. There was one additional death reported, for a cumulative total of 194.
On Monday, Kansas reported an increase of 6,373 COVID-19 cases in the five days since last Wednesday, the last date that case numbers were released. There was a cumulative total of 216,062 cases, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment statistics. There was an increase of 41 deaths since Wednesday, for a cumulative total of 2,548 statewide.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Monday reported 19,299,002 total cumulative cases in the United States, with 334,788 total deaths.
Free COVID-19 testing available Tuesday
Free COVID-19 testing is available from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Check in advance to see if the schedule changes because of the weather.
The pop-up test is sponsored by the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force and Vibrant Health.
The Unified Government Health Department has moved its COVID-19 testing from the 6th and Ann location to the former Kmart at 78th and State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas. The hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. There are holiday hours this week. They are scheduled to be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 29-31, and closed Friday, Jan. 1. Check in advance to see if the schedule changes because of the weather.
Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County. The tests are nasopharyngeal swab tests. The Health Department no longer uses saliva tests.
The tests now are open to asymptomatic people as well as those who have symptoms or have been exposed to COVID-19. Check with the UG Health Department’s Facebook page to see if there have been any changes in the schedule. Bring something that shows that you live or work in Wyandotte County, such as a utility bill.
Free COVID-19 tests also are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Pierson Community Center, 1800 S. 55th St., Kansas City, Kansas. Registration is at www.GoGetTested.com/Kansas. Check in advance to see if schedules change because of the weather.
Testing sites are at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
For more test sites, also see https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
For more information about the testing site at the former Kmart location, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/10092020_newtestingsitewyco.pdf.
To see information about the UG giving vaccines to health care workers, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/ug-to-start-giving-covid-19-vaccines-to-health-department-and-ems-personnel-next-week/.
The KU doctors’ news conference is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/403254824225689.
The KDHE vaccine report is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1677/Vaccine-Update-12-16-20.
Cards and letters of encouragement for caregivers at KU Health System may be sent to Share Joy, care of Patient Relations, 4000 Cambridge St., Mailstop 1021, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160. Emails can be sent to [email protected].
Wyandotte County is under a mandatory mask and social distancing order. Also, the Wyandotte County health order with a limit of 10 persons to a gathering, and a closing time of 10 p.m. for restaurants and bars, with other new restrictions, is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/11162020localhealthorderexecuted.pdf.
The UG COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The KDHE’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/.
The KC Region COVID-19 Hub dashboard is at https://marc2.org/covidhub/.
The Wyandotte County page on the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 website is at https://bao.arcgis.com/covid-19/jhu/county/20209.html.
The CDC’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html.