Two parents or guardians per athlete may attend high school winter sports, according to a new decision Tuesday by the Kansas State High School Athletic Association board of directors.
In a special virtual meeting, the board voted 54-24 to allow two parents per participant, overturning a previous decision of no spectators.
From Thursday, Dec. 10, through Jan. 28, interscholastic activities will allow up to two parents or guardians per participant and per participant’s family to attend, as allowed by the local board of education or health department restrictions.
According to KSHSAA, included in participants are players, coaches, student managers, cheer squads, dance teams, pep bands and student journalists.
Each school is expected to have universal face coverings and social distancing guidelines, according to KSHSAA.
The rule stated that all participants must wear a face covering while at the event and for the duration of the event. There is an exception for athletes during the time they are competing and for officials during active play.
Each school board in Kansas may set its own rules on whether and how to play winter sports, and each county health department also may set guidelines on winter sports.
In Wyandotte County, after first strongly recommending against any indoor winter sports, the guidelines were rescinded and new guidelines issued in mid-November with recommendations for cohorts and recommendations for remote learning for athletes.
All athletes, participants and spectators are mandated to wear masks in Wyandotte County, including during the game, according to the health order. Social distancing is in effect. Wyandotte County also has a 50 percent capacity limit on sports event venues.
The new Pfizer vaccine has clearly met the success criteria and is a “homerun,” according to an expert who spoke during Tuesday morning’s news conference at the University of Kansas Health System.
Dr. Gregory Poland, a vaccinologist and the founding director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, said the trials for the vaccine measured efficacy seven days after giving the second dose and found an efficacy rate of 95 percent. The estimate did not vary by age , gender, race and comorbidities, which is why he called it a “homerun,” he said.
The emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine is likely to be approved on Thursday by the FDA, he said, and if it is, it will be possible to start vaccinations on Friday. Front-line health care workers and nursing home residents are on the list to receive the first vaccines.
While efficacy is easy to measure, safety is different, Dr. Poland said. They now have two to three months of safety data after the second dose was given to trial participants, he said. From 95 to 100 percent of any serious vaccine reactions generally occur within six weeks of receiving a vaccine, he said. He doesn’t expect different safety results because of the time interval of the studies.
He said the main differences of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were in storage and logistics. The Moderna vaccine needs to be kept at minus 20 degrees, refrigerated up to 30 days and at room temperature for no more than 12 hours, he said. That’s different from Pfizer’s vaccine, which is stored at minus 75 (or minus 104 Fahrenheit), kept refrigerated only for five days, and at room temperature only a maximum of two hours.
“That does induce a logistical and administrative burden on people as they are trying to receive, store and administer this vaccine, particularly in any sort of mass administration,” he said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control for the KU Health System, said they have plenty of space for the vaccine at the health system, and could store up to 300,000 doses should they deliver that many.
It was recently reported that the United States ordered its first tranche of vaccines and didn’t order the second tranche, which is now going to different countries, Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said.
Dr. Poland said that was puzzling, and that Pfizer production capacity in January will increase. Instead of 100 million doses by the end of the year, Pfizer is talking 40 to 50 million, and this is a two-dose vaccine, Dr. Poland said.
Dr. Poland said to achieve herd immunity, the population would need to be about 70 percent vaccinated. The 95 percent rate means 5 percent of the people who get the vaccine will not be protected.
The idea of herd immunity through trying to get COVID-19 has been called unethical by Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the leaders of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and even Sweden has now rejected the possibility of reaching herd immunity that way, Dr. Poland said. They suffered enormous numbers of deaths compared to surrounding countries and have now rescinded their earlier policy.
For the most part, efficacy studies have involved individuals who wore masks, washed hands and were safely distanced from others, he said. The efficacy of the vaccine among people who don’t observe these measures, he said, was not known.
Dr. Poland said if a very large proportion of the population can get vaccinated, from 70 to 90 percent, they can get back to some degree of normalcy rapidly. But the paradox of the people not following masking and distancing is they are going to lose many more people than they need to, and the pandemic will last many more months longer than it needed to.
The best estimate is one out of 700 Americans will have died of this virus by the first quarter of 2021, Dr. Poland said, “and yet we can’t be inconvenienced with wearing a piece of cloth over our faces?”
He urged people not to be misled by those who are not scientists. It is not political, religious or economic, he said, but it is a medical issue.
On Tuesday morning, KU Health System reported an increased number of COVID-19 inpatients. There were 94 active COVID-19 cases in the hospital, up from 82 on Monday, according to Dr. Hawkinson. There were 52 patients in the intensive care unit, an increase from 47 on Monday, and 25 of the ICU patients were on ventilators, a decrease from 28 on Monday. There were another 62 patients still in the hospital and out of the acute infection phase, up from 59 on Monday, for a total of 156 COVID-19 patients, an increase from 141 on Monday.
HaysMed in Hays, Kansas, reported a total 28 COVID-19 inpatients, an increase from 25 on Monday. Twenty-four were active patients and four were in the recovery phase.
It’s possible that vaccines could begin soon, according to doctors at the University of Kansas Health System.
Pfizer has already shipped some doses to centers across the country, awaiting FDA emergency use approval Thursday, according to Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer for the health system.
KU Health System is one of the five sites in Kansas to receive vaccines, he said. If the FDA grants emergency use authorization on Thursday, vaccinations could begin as early as Friday, he said.
The first vaccinations here would go to health care workers. Residents of nursing homes also are on the list to get the first vaccines.
The CDC and Health and Human Services have determined the number of doses to go to each state, then each state determines who will get the vaccines first.
Kansas has sent out notifications to each center about the number of doses they will receive, the numbers they may give in their own hospitals, and the numbers they have to distribute in the communities, he said.
KU Health System has prioritized its internal vaccines to be given to front-line workers actually taking care of COVID-19 patients first, he said. Residents of nursing homes also are prioritized, and the doctors expect their hospital COVID-19 inpatients to be much lower by the end of January because of this priority.
“We have been meeting with the state and Wyandotte County, working to get everybody in those vulnerable tiers to get vaccinated first,” Dr. Dana Hawkinson, director of medical prevention and control at KU Health System, said.
They continue to get more details every week, he added.
Dr. Matthias Salathe, chair of internal medicine at KU Health System, and Dr. Kevin Ault, obstetrician and gynecologist at KU Health System and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, answered questions about the vaccines during Monday morning’s news conference.
They discussed misinformation about the vaccines, such as it causes sterility, or that it alters genetic codes, which is not true, the doctors said. They also answered several other questions.
For the general population, vaccines may not be available for a few months, and it could be as late as summer or fall. Mask-wearing and social distancing will be necessary until then, according to the doctors.
The University of Kansas Health System reported a slight drop in the number of active COVID-19 patients on Monday at the hospital, according to Dr. Hawkinson. There were 82 active COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease from 87 on Friday. There were 47 patients in the intensive care unit, an increase of one from Friday, with 38 of the ICU patients on ventilators, an increase of eight from Friday. There were 59 other COVID-19 patients still in the hospital who are in the recovery phase, a decrease from 68 on Friday. The hospital had 141 total COVID-19 patients, a decrease of 14 from Friday.
HaysMed reported 25 total COVID-19 inpatients, a decrease from 33 on Friday, with 20 active patients and five in the recovery phase.
It’s likely that some patients who were infected at Thanksgiving gatherings will develop symptoms and some will be hospitalized, with hospitalizations following infections by about 10 to 14 days, according to the doctors. They are hoping any surge that might occur will be minimal.
Wyandotte County case numbers increasing
Wyandotte County reported 11,745 total cumulative COVID-19 cases on Monday, with an increase of 102 since Sunday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 webpage. There were 184 deaths, no change from Sunday.
Kansas reported 174,025 cumulative cases on Monday, an increase of 5,730 cases since Friday, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. There were an additional 70 deaths reported, for a cumulative 1,856.
The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 dashboard reported 14,949,229 cumulative cases in the United States on Monday, up 192,215 since Sunday. There were 283,703 cumulative deaths reported, an increase of 1,435 deaths since Sunday.
Free COVID-19 testing available Tuesday
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
The pop-up test is through Vibrant Health and the Wyandotte County Health Equity Task Force.
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 Friday. Tests are free for those who live or work in Wyandotte County. The tests are now saliva COVID-19 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.
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].
