Recent news of a vaccine development gives reason for encouragement, according to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
Sen. Moran said during a University of Kansas Health System news conference Friday morning that the news from the National Institutes of Health is that there are efforts to quickly develop and test a vaccine for COVID-19.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at the KU Health System, said the news of a possible vaccine by October brought him to tears. Two vaccines might be available according to the NIH.
He said trials enrolls in July, and they are putting some of the stages of the testing together to have results out by September, then ready to start distributing dosages of vaccines in October. They’ve already been through animal testing.
“That is a remarkable timeline and a lot faster than what we originally heard,” he said.
They’ve already started on production of some of them, he said, and if they are effective and approved, will be ready to send them out in October. There could be 10 million doses available in October, 100 million to 300 million doses by the first of the year, he said. He hopes it will be true, he added.
Sen. Moran said there are millions of dollars going into the research and development of a vaccine.
KU Health System had 18 COVID-19 patients on Friday morning, as compared to numbers in the 30s last week and in the 20s earlier this week, according to Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director, infection prevention and control, KU Health System.
“Hospitals are one of the safest places to be,” Dr. Stites said. “”We have never been safer.”
Dr. Hawkinson said patients need to follow up with chronic conditions at the clinics, to keep healthy.
Also, the doctors said it is still important for people to continue good hygiene practices such as social distancing, washing hands, not touching their face, coughing into their elbows and staying home when sick.
Three new deaths reported in Wyandotte County
Three new COVID-19 deaths were reported in Wyandotte County between 1:30 p.m. May 14 and 11:55 a.m. May 15, according to the Unified Government’s COVID-19 webpage. There are now a total of 69 deaths.
Wyandotte County reported 1,124 positive COVID-19 cases at 11:55 a.m. Friday, an increase of 11 cases since 1:30 p.m. May 14, according to the UG’s COVID-19 webpage.
Reported hospitalizations in Wyandotte County decreased from 35 on May 14 to 30 on May 15, a decrease of five, according to the UG report. There were 304 recoveries, according to the website.
Testing continues today
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, pop-up testing is scheduled at Zotung Christian Church, 5041 State Ave.
Also, testing continues in the afternoons at the Health Department parking lot at 6th and Ann. Testing may be affected by the weather. For more testing sites and information on who may be tested, call 311 or visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
Testing that is not sponsored by the UG Health Department is taking place from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the Bonner Springs and Piper Walmarts, see https://wyandotteonline.com/walmart-opens-two-covid-19-testing-sites-in-wyandotte-county/.
To view the KU doctors’ news conference, visit
https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/238483904049065/.
More information about the “red zone” rules is online at the ReStart WyCo hub at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/restartwyco.
The ReStart WyCo plan is at https://www.wycokck.org/WycoKCK/media/Health-Department/Documents/Communicable%20Disease/COVID19/RestartWYCOGuidanceDocument043020.pdf.
Several Wyandotte County pop-up testing sites are listed at https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19.
The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is at https://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.
The Kansas COVID-19 website is at https://covid.ks.gov/.
The Kansas COVID-19 resource page is at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
Information from the CDC is at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/.