{"id":59410,"date":"2023-08-14T15:49:43","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T22:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=59410"},"modified":"2023-08-14T15:49:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T22:49:43","slug":"covid-makes-a-comeback-but-new-vaccines-are-around-the-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=59410","title":{"rendered":"Covid Makes a Comeback, But New Vaccines Are Around the Corner"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_66 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_66\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span><a class=\"tdb-author-name\" href=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/author\/sunita\/\">Sunita Sohrabji<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_67 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_67\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2023-08-14T14:50:47-07:00\">Aug 14, 2023<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_68 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_68\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>The US is experiencing a summer swell of infections, though hospitalization rates remain relatively stable. Three eminent experts conclude that Covid-19 will continue to pose a health threat over many years, as it continues its evolution. But updated vaccines are expected to mitigate the severity of infections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_69 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_69\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"entry-thumb td-animation-stack-type0-2\" title=\"cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash\" src=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-696x465.jpg 696w, https:\/\/ethnicmediaservices.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/cdc-GZkhG_EvWfY-unsplash-scaled-e1692048464217-1068x713.jpg 1068w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"801\" \/><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">(CDC photo via Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_70 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_1 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_70\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>Covid-19 cases are rising once again, possibly fueled by the emergence of the EG.5 variant. Hospitalization rates jumped by 12.5% nationwide in July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This uptick comes even as the public health emergency has ended, taking with it free testing and therapeutics. And Covid fatigue has set in. People no longer wear masks in public, and a study has determined that the majority of Americans will forego new boosters, which will be available this fall.<\/p>\n<p>At an Aug. 11 panel discussion organized by Ethnic Media Services, three eminent Covid experts examined the rise in cases, the new variant, and the new monovalent vaccine which will be available this fall.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"widget2\" title=\"It\u2019s Very Clear: COVID is Here to Stay | EMS News Briefing Podcast | Aug 11, 2023\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/D59Fj9VnMts?feature=oembed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"392\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-10=\"true\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Panelists included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, Associate Dean for Regional Campuses, University of California, San Francisco and Medical Educator, specializing in treating infectious diseases<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Benjamin Neuman, Professor of Biology and Chief Virologist, Global Health Research Complex, Texas A&amp;M University<\/li>\n<li>Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>What are the origins of the EG.5 variant? Does it differ substantially from its predecessors?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Neuman<\/strong>: EG.5 is one of the variants that\u2019s spreading the fastest right now. It\u00a0is a child of a thing called XBB 1.9.\u00a0Basically, it\u2019s another version of Omicron. And everything that is circulating in the world right now has about 100 to 110 differences from the original version.<\/p>\n<p>This variant is spreading because it has a lot of changes at the receptor binding site that is the target of most of the vaccines and of some of the most useful parts of the immune system.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Will the new vaccines recognize the new variant and be effective against it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Neuman:\u00a0<\/strong>When the target changes, you have to change your aim. It has been over a year since we have had an updated version of the vaccine. It\u2019s coming slowly, but uptake has not been great. The total uptake in the US for the bivalent vaccine is only 17%.<\/p>\n<p>The formulation of the new booster is supposed to be a monovalent against the XBB variant. From the studies that we have now, it looks like new variants like EG.5 are close enough that a vaccine against XBB seems to work against it pretty well. So I think it\u2019s a good move, and I wish they\u2019d hurry up to release it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Hospitalization rates remain relatively stable despite the summer surge of infections. Do you expect that hospitalization rates are going to rise at some point?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Chin-Hong<\/strong>: There has been a slight uptick in hospitalizations, not a tsunami, not even a surge. The way I think about it is a swell. It\u2019s kind of like a general wave coming. It doesn\u2019t overwhelm you. You don\u2019t get submerged into it, but you kind of ride it until it goes to the shore.<\/p>\n<p>So if you look at California, for example, one year ago, we had about 4700 people hospitalized at one point. And right now we have about 890 people hospitalized. So in perspective, it\u2019s nothing compared to even one year ago when it was 4700.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Why is there a slight swell of cases now?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Chin-Hong<\/strong>:\u00a0Four reasons. There are big concerts like Taylor Swift, bringing a lot of people together. And unprecedented heat waves have driven a lot of people indoors. So it\u2019s kind of like a winter almost, even though it\u2019s the summer.<\/p>\n<p>People\u2019s immunity is kind of waning from the last time a lot of people got infected, which was last winter. And then \u2014 although it\u2019s speculative at this point \u2014 there\u2019s the role of how EG.5 might relate to this uptick.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re seeing so many people get Covid in the community. But we\u2019ve all been so exposed to Covid already, so it\u2019s coming on inhospitable soil. More than 95% of us have had an exposure or have had a vaccine at some point. So that probably minimizes or mitigates the risk of serious disease.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Paxlovid and Remdesivir are currently the only therapeutics we have in our arsenal to battle<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>.<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0But they are problematic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Schaffner:\u00a0<\/strong>We know that if you administer Paxlovid \u2014 particularly to people at high risk \u2014 very shortly after they are infected, we can reduce their risk of developing severe disease. But Paxlovid has limitations, as any therapy does. There are drug interactions. So if you\u2019re taking certain medications, you have to be careful about taking Paxlovid. Or you may not be able to get it if you have kidney failure.<\/p>\n<p>Remdesivir we now use very quickly once the patient is<\/p>\n<p>admitted to the hospital. But wouldn\u2019t it be better if we had more therapeutic agents aimed at keeping people out of the hospital?<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Will we soon have new therapeutics?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Studies still continue on other therapeutic agents, but I cannot tell you when they will become available. I think we\u2019ll just have to see. But the research community continues, I think, to make some of the very best contributions to the control of Covid around the world.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Can you get long Covid from the vaccines or boosters?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Schaffner<\/strong>: Let us make it clear the vaccine is not associated with long Covid. There are some people who have received the vaccine who nonetheless can get Covid. We all know that that can happen. The vaccines seem to have some effect in reducing the likelihood of long Covid. But, yes, you can get Covid, and as a consequence, long Covid, even though you have been vaccinated. But the vaccines really reduce the risk of long Covid.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Minority populations and low-income communities have always been at a higher risk for hospitalization and death from Covid. With the end of the Public Health Emergency, how can we ensure that everyone gets the tests, vaccines, and therapeutics they need to stay healthy?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Chin-Hong:\u00a0<\/strong>Throughout the pandemic, we\u2019ve seen a lot of disparities, including and particularly amongst the African American communities, both in terms of who is dying first of all and who is being hospitalized.<\/p>\n<p>But then we began to address some of the root causes, which were related to access to testing and related to probably a lot of structural racism. Of course, politics played a role, but even after the new administration, those disparities still persisted.<\/p>\n<p>I think one silver lining was that vaccinations increased uptake in all communities, probably given the advocacy of a lot of grassroots organizations and community-based organizations.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>So what is still free, after the Public Health Emergency ended May 11?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Vaccines are still free. There\u2019s a bridge program that\u2019s going to probably come into effect nationally that allows\u00a0people\u00a0\u2014\u00a0without demonstrating ability to pay\u00a0\u2014\u00a0to get them at least until the end of the year in California, \u00a0and probably extended with a national bridge program.<\/p>\n<p>And then if you have insurance or MediCal\u00a0or MediCare, \u00a0people are obligated to give you the vaccine for free without a copay because of the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Final remarks?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Neuman:\u00a0<\/strong>The moon is far away. Mars is far away. We\u2019ve been to both of those. It seems like the end of COVID is far away right now, but I have to believe that with human ingenuity, we can get there. I think the biggest challenge was and is in people\u2019s hearts, convincing them not to fear the new and the newly approved and to do everything in their power to stop this virus. Because it doesn\u2019t add anything to life, it only takes it away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Schaffner:\u00a0<\/strong>We have to remind ourselves that although the pandemic has receded, the virus is still with us and will be for the foreseeable future. It has the capacity to make people very, very ill. As I like to say, the virus is bad, vaccines are good. Take advantage of the new updated booster vaccine that will be available this fall, starting sometime in September. That will provide the best protection for yourself. Make sure your family is protected, and contribute to the protection of your own community.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Chin-Hong<\/strong>: Who would ever believe that we rallied together as a world to have so many tools to solve this crisis? It\u2019s going to be around with us for a while: the 1918 flu influenza pandemic, there\u2019s still vestiges still today. But the point is, we have these tools and it\u2019s up to us to use it. And science and taking care of ourselves is not a political issue.<\/p>\n<p>We have to take care of all populations and make sure everybody has access and ability to get these tools.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BySunita Sohrabji Aug 14, 2023 The&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59411,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59410\/revisions\/59411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}