A new study reported in a medical journal has reported that the vaccine program at nursing homes throughout the United States has been very successful.
Dr. Jessica Kalender-Rich, member of the White House Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes, and a geriatric medicine physician, said it’s almost a palpable change of what has been going on in the nursing homes.
“Those vaccines are working,” Dr. Kalender-Rich said at the University of Kansas Health System’s news conference Monday morning.
“We started to see the rates declining right after, or at the third clinic,” she said. At that time, they started to see sharp declines in the rate of COVID-19 cases at nursing homes, and it continued, she said.
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control, said the decline in cases has been apparent at the hospital, as they are not seeing nursing home admissions at the hospitals for COVID-19. It was more than a 10 times reduction in the rate of nursing home admissions for COVID-19, he said.
Dr. Kalender-Rich said there were only small numbers of hospital admission for COVID-19 nursing home patients across the country. While there have been some cases, very few have to go to the hospital to get treatment, she said.
She said visitors can now go back to the nursing homes, although there are restrictions on who, when and how. If the resident and visitor are vaccinated, they are more likely to be able to see each other, while if they are not, there may be more restrictions in place for their protection.
Plus, residents can eat together again if they are vaccinated, she said.
The trauma of being isolated hit people in nursing homes harder than others, she said. There may have been increases in cognitive decline over the past year, but she said she is hoping to see some recovery. Residents are better now, she said.
Instead of being concerned about COVID-19 constantly, they have gone back to the same concerns of a couple years ago, such as optimizing health, making sure medications are correct and that they have a good support system, she said. They’re looking now at more normalcy and are focused on the whole person now, she said.
Dr. Kalender-Rich said most infections they are seeing in facilities now are among those who work there.
The vaccination rates for staff remains low, she said, and facilities are managing vaccinations differently. Some have vaccinations on site, while others are asking employees to go to vaccination sites in the community. At this point they are talking to each person individually. Now, the effort is to work one by one to answer questions and get more people vaccinated.
Dr. Steve Stites, chief medical officer at KU Health System, said COVID-19 case numbers have been declining nationally in the past six months, and numbers are down locally as well.
Dr. Stites said mask orders were lifted in some of the Kansas City area communities about nine or 10 days ago, and so far, they’re not seeing a marked increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, “which I think is incredibly important.”
Dr. Hawkinson said there were still a lot of businesses and places that encourage mask-wearing, including some stores.
“Just because the mandates are lifted, doesn’t mean the virus is gone,” Dr. Hawkinson said. “We still know how to protect ourselves, and we still can. The best protection is if we can get 100 percent of people 12 and over vaccinated.”
Dr. Stites said keeping people safe in the long term will mean getting people vaccinated. There’s a significant amount of people who have either had COVID-19 or who have been vaccinated, he said. About 57 percent of Americans have had at least one shot, he said. The vaccination looks like it’s good for eight to 12 months, he added. However, those who have had the COVID-19 disease and have not been vaccinated are not as well protected against variants, he said.
Dr. Hawkinson said the robust immune response is not as good for those who had COVID-19 naturally as it is for those who have received a vaccine.
Pfizer is conducting a trial for booster shots currently. Dr. Stites said there is at least eight months of immunity for those who have been vaccinated, and they’re not sure how much longer. Studies will be very important to show more information.
Dr. Hawkinson said lab data showed serum from vaccinated people looks to be really good against variants. The UK variant is the prominent one in the United States now. He said he hopes if there is a booster, it will also include protection against the South African and India variants.
Dr. Stites said he would expect people to get boosters about a year out. The boosters probably will shift from year to year, he said. No one should be surprised because that’s what’s done with the flu shot now.
Dr. Hawkinson said the economic value of getting the vaccine is important. Getting the vaccine will protect people from getting the disease and missing work, he said. If people get tested and are positive, the guidance is to stay isolated for 10 days. In order to not miss work, it’s important for every individual to get vaccinated, he said.
Dr. Stites said he hopes over time this will be like the flu vaccine, and will not be a political rallying cry. He said he is a little worried when state or local governments step in and say you can’t make people get a COVID-19 vaccine. If there is an FDA approved vaccine, at that point it will be hard to argue that hospitals or businesses can’t require people to get COVID-19 vaccines, just as they require tetanus, MMR or flu vaccines.
Dr. Hawkinson said they had not seen processing plants and supply chains shut down with the flu, as they had with COVID-19. The key is to keep people healthy and able to work, he said.
“We are extremely lucky that this technology and this platform has provided the protection we have,” he said. The COVID-19 vaccine has an efficacy of over 90 percent compared to the flu vaccine, which is more in the 32 to 35 percent efficacy range, he said. Some other vaccines are mandated in workplaces and institutions, so why wouldn’t the COVID-19 vaccine be mandated as well, he asked.
Recent reports were that myocarditis was occurring after some COVID-19 vaccines in young people. At this time, it looks like the rates are about the same as in the general population, but it needs more study, Dr. Stites said. The percentage is much higher of myocarditis among those who have the COVID-19 disease, and the effects are much worse, he said.
There are a lot of diseases that occur naturally in the population, Dr. Stites said. The question is if it is at a different rate after vaccinations than it already is in the population, he said. Over a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given around the world, and they are incredibly safe, he added.
Free walk-in vaccinations available Tuesday
Free walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations will be available for everyone 12 and older from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, at the former Kmart store at 7836 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas, and the former Best Buy store at 10500 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas. People also can schedule vaccinations at WycoVaccines.org.
The Kansas National Guard Armory location will be closed on Tuesday.
The Unified Government Health Department schedule of vaccinations changed recently. To see the schedule and more information about vaccinations, visit WycoVaccines.org or https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
Those who receive vaccinations are asked to consider bringing an ID to make the process go faster.
The Health Department is doing more mobile vaccinations, and people may request vaccines to be given at different sites in the community by going to WycoVaccines.org and clicking on “mobile vaccine request.” People also may request a ride to vaccination sites on the same page.
UG Health Department vaccinations are now open to people from other counties and states. People may walk in for vaccinations or can schedule them.
Those who wish to schedule an appointment may use the Health Department’s self-scheduling tool at WycoVaccines.org and click on a blue button that says, “Click here to schedule an appointment online.” The page is available in Spanish by clicking at the top of the page. Walk-in appointments also are welcome.
Those who don’t have an internet connection may call 3-1-1 or 913-573-5311 for assistance in scheduling their vaccination appointment time and date.
To see more information about Health Department vaccinations and next week’s schedule, visit WycoVaccines.org.
There will be a special children’s vaccination clinic held on Wednesday, May 26, at the former Kmart store at 7836 State Ave. The Health Department will give immunizations needed for school from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. May 26 at a walk-in clinic at the former Kmart. Middle-school age children may receive TDaP, MCV4 and HPV vaccines. Parents should bring the child’s vaccine record. This clinic is for Wyandotte County residents who have KanCare (Medicaid) or are not insured.
Other sites available for vaccinations
Vaccinations at KU Health System are open to the public. Current patients may use MyChart to make an appointment. Others may call 913-588-1227 or visit kansashealthsystem.com/vaccine to make an appointment to get vaccinated. KU Health System currently is vaccinating residents of Kansas and Missouri who are 12 or older, by appointment only. Those under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout the appointment.
There are also pharmacies giving free COVID-19 vaccinations in Wyandotte County by appointment, when available. These include Price Chopper and Hen House pharmacies, which are now also accepting walk-in vaccinations or appointments, and are starting vaccinations for age 12 and up at those pharmacies that are giving Pfizer vaccine (see https://www.ballsfoodspharmacy.com/).
CVS has announced walk-in appointments for COVID-19 vaccine at some of its stores. Those interested in getting a vaccination at a CVS pharmacy are asked to visit a CVS website in order to make sure there is vaccine available. The website is at www.cvs.com/. Walgreens and Walmart also were listed on www.vaccines.gov as giving vaccinations.
Other pharmacies and sites giving vaccines are listed at www.vaccines.gov.
Case numbers reported
A steady number of COVID-19 patients was reported Monday morning at the University of Kansas Health System, according to Dr. Hawkinson. There were seven active COVID-19 patients, no change from Friday. Two of the patients were in the intensive care unit, a derease of one since Friday. One patient was on a ventilator, no change in the number since Friday.
Wyandotte County reported an increase of 22 COVID-19 cases on Monday, May 24, for a cumulative 18,709 cases, according to the Unified Government Health Department’s COVID-19 webpage. There was a cumulative total of 293 deaths reported, an increase of one.
The Mid-America Regional Council’s COVID-19 dashboard reported 173,809 cumulative COVID-19 cases on Monday. The daily average of new hospitalizations was 48.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 313,274 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Kansas on Monday, May 24, an increase of 277 cases since Friday, May 21. There were a total cumulative 5,058 deaths reported statewide, an increase of one.
Johnson County had a cumulative 59,042 cases on Monday, an increase of 81 since Friday, according to the KDHE. Leavenworth County had a cumulative 7,246 cases on Monday, an increase of three since Friday. Sedgwick County had a cumulative 57,127 cases on Monday, an increase of 48 since Friday.
The Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard on Monday night reported 33,143,246 cumulative COVID-19 cases in the United States, with 590,529 total deaths reported nationwide. There were 12,853 new cases nationwide and 190 new deaths nationwide.
States with rising numbers of new cases were Florida, 2,069, New York, 1,074; Illinois, 941; Pennsylvania, 799; and California, 731.
Countries with rising numbers of new cases were India, 222,315; Brazil, 35,819; Argentina, 24,801; Colombia, 21,669; U.S., 12,853, according to Johns Hopkins information.
Free testing available Tuesday
Free COVID-19 testing will be available from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, May 25, at All Saints parish, 811 Vermont, Kansas City, Kansas. Testing is in conjunction with the Wyandotte Health Equity Task Force. Appointments are not needed.
Free COVID-19 testing also will be offered from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, at the former Kmart store at 7836 State Ave. and at the former Best Buy at 10500 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kansas. Appointments are not needed.
The National Guard Armory testing site will be closed on Tuesday. For more information, about UG Health Department COVID-19 testing sites and hours, visit https://wyandotte-county-covid-19-hub-unifiedgov.hub.arcgis.com/pages/what-to-do-if-you-think-you-have-covid-19. To see if there is any change to the schedule, visit https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept. Appointments are not needed.
One of the WellHealth sites for free COVID-19 testing is open beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, May 25, at Lowe’s at 6920 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas. Appointments are required. For more information, to see other testing sites and to make an appointment, visit https://www.gogettested.com/kansas.
The Health Department’s general contact page is at https://www.wycokck.org/Health/Contact.aspx. The department’s Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/UGHealthDept.
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. There are more test sites listed on this page.
Saliva testing is now offered at the UG Health Department. For more information, visit https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/02042021-ugphd-saliva-testing-available.pdf.
The KU doctors’ news conference is online at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/272161267942755.
The University of Kansas Health System COVID-19 update page is at https://www.facebook.com/kuhospital/videos/330310795391910.
A vaccine report for the state of Kansas is at
https://www.kansasvaccine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/123/Vaccine-Historical-Document-22521?bidId=.
Information about the mask ordinance passed April 29, which loosened restrictions in Wyandotte County, is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/updatedwycomaskorder04302021.pdf. The mask order is online at https://alpha.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/health/documents/covid/amend-lho-may-6-2021.pdf.
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 Johns Hopkins Data in Motion, a presentation on critical COVID-19 data in the past 24 hours, is at https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/covid-19-daily-video.