Are we out of the woods yet? This latest blog fromA Kansas Twist discusses what remains of COVID-19 policy nationally and in Kansas. Previous blog posts tracking coronavirus-related policiesfrom2020-2021 can be found at these links:A Kansas Twist Reopening Plans for Kansas Countiesand A Kansas Twist Following the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in Kansas.
As we step into spring after weathering two waves of increased COVID-19 cases due to theDelta and Omicron variants there are no countywide or statewide restrictions in place in Kansasas of March 3. Several school districts are discussing whether to maintain or remove school measures through the remainder of the school year in light of the recent guidance issued by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) and theAmerican Academy of Pediatricson how communities can approach COVID-19 mitigation measures. While state and county restrictions have been pulled back, legislators, health care providers and researchers have continued taking actions in response to the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic.
The highly contagious Delta variantdominated through the summer and fall of 2021. However, at the end of 2021 and through the beginning of 2022, the highly contagious (but less lethal) Omicron variant dominated. KDHE reported 12,462new cases on January 18, 2022, at the peak of the surge. During those recent waves, at least two Kansas counties Wyandotte and Douglas had mask mandates in place. Wyandotte Countys mask mandate became effective on August 6, 2021, and with several extensions was set to expire on January 6, 2022. However, the mask mandate was rescinded on December 16, 2021. Douglas Countys 2022 mask mandate became effective on January 7 and remained in force until March 2.
While cases soared and few county restrictions were in place, health care facilities throughout the state were sounding the alarm of their struggle to respond under staffing shortages. On January 6, 2022, Governor Laura Kelly signed a State of Disaster Emergency Proclamation and issued two Executive Orders (EO 22-01 and EO 22-02) to provide the states hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and long-term care facilities with temporary measures to address their staffing shortages. With the EOs set to expire on Friday, January 21, the Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2477 to codify the provisions of Governor Kellys executive orders (EOs) and it was signed into law on January 21, effective immediately.
With the emergence of the new variants, there was a rise in vaccine breakthrough infections, which is when a fully vaccinated person is infected.Studies on COVID-19 case, hospitalization and death rates have found vaccine effectiveness decreased during this time but continued to protect against severe outcomes such as hospitalizations and deaths. Nationwide, two-thirds of the population (or 69.1 percent of those eligible age 5 and older) are fully vaccinated as of February 28, 2022. Nearly 6 in 10 (57.2 percent) eligible Kansanshad completed aCOVID-19 vaccineseriesand were fully vaccinated as of February 28, 2022.On October 29, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric COVID-19 vaccine for children age 5-11. Four days later it was endorsed by the CDC. In addition, eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine booster was expanded to all individuals over age 18 on November 19, 2021, and to individuals age 12 and older on January 5, 2022.The definition of 'fully vaccinated,' according to the CDC, means a person has received all recommended doses in their primary series of COVID-19 vaccine.
Recently, on February 25, the CDC issued an interim COVID-19 immunization schedule, which changed the timing between vaccination doses for some people age 12 to 64, and especially males age 12 to 39 who may benefit from getting their second COVID-19 mRNA vaccine dose eight weeks after receiving their first dose. This change was based onstudiesin adolescents (ages 12-17 years) and adults, which found the small risk of myocarditis associated with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines may be reduced, and peak antibody responses and vaccine effectiveness may be increased, with an interval longer than the initial recommendation offour weeks. The studies showed no additional benefit beyond eight weeks, however.
In the face of another surge in COVID-19 cases, some states took action around COVID-19 vaccine mandates and passports. As of February 23, 2022, Hawaii has implemented a COVID-19 proof of vaccination mandate, 22 states (including Kansas) have banned such mandates, and at least 13 states (not Kansas) have a digital app available for vaccine verification. On May 26, 2021, Governor Kelly signed Senate Bill (SB) 159 the omnibus appropriations bill which added a section prohibiting state agencies from issuing a COVID-19 vaccination passport in Fiscal Years 2021-2022 to any individual without such individual's consent or requiring an individual to use a COVID-19 vaccination passport within the state for any purpose.
Some states also took action around requirements for certain workers to be vaccinated or comply with mask and COVID-19 testing requirements.As of February 23, 2022, at least two states Montana and Tennessee have banned vaccine mandates and/or private employer mandates and at least nine states (including Kansas) have set limitations or exemptions for vaccine mandates. On November 22, 2021, Kansas lawmakers passed Special Session HB 2001, which requires employers who impose COVID-19 vaccine requirements to allow medical and religious exemptions; authorizes employees to file complaints with the Secretary of Labor for violations of the law; authorizes district courts to impose civil penalties; and allows employees who are discharged or suspended in violation of the law or decline to work if required to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine requirement to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
At least 27 states (including Kansas) also have filed lawsuits challenging federal vaccine requirements for federal contractors, employers with 100+ employees and certified Medicare/Medicaid providers. Based on the U.S. Supreme Courts decision on the rule on January 13, 2022, CMS released updated guidancefor 24 states (including Kansas) which expects full compliance from providers by March 15, 2022. On February 23, 2022, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt asked federal courts to reopen litigation challenging the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.
Check back for more information as we continue to monitor response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kansas Health Institute supports effective policymaking through nonpartisan research, education and engagement. KHI believes evidence-based information, objective analysis and civil dialogue enable policy leaders to be champions for a healthier Kansas. Established in 1995 with a multiyear grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, KHI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization based in Topeka.
Tens of thousands of vaccinated people at least have caught COVID-19 in the Bay Area over the past few months, thanks to the highly infectious omicron variant, which infects vaccinated people much more easily than earlier strains.
That means tens of thousands of people are now protected by the double-whammy of vaccination and recent infection, which confers the much-vaunted natural immunity. Their bodies are teeming with a new hit of antibodies, many of them better-tailored to the omicron variant than the ones formed in response to immunization. They also have a new cohort of immune cells that recognize not only the virus's spike protein, which was used to make the vaccine, but other parts of the virus not included in vaccines. Scientists call this one-two punch hybrid immunity.
So will you be better protected when the next round of COVID-19 hits the scene? The short answer is yes.
"You have COVID immunity superpowers," said Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of UCSF's department of medicine. "At least for several months, you are as protected as can be, and can feel very comfortable not wearing a mask pretty much everywhere."
UCSF infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong agreed, explaining that natural infection trains your immune system "with a wider view of the enemy, and so its weapons get more precise."
RELATED STORY: Should you still wear a mask? We asked UCSF's Dr. Bob Wachter
Long term, the biggest boost from hybrid immunity will likely be seen in prevention of severe disease. When your body hasnt seen the virus for a couple of months, it stops wasting energy churning out unnecessary antibodies. That means the next time youre exposed to COVID-19, it might successfully camp out in some of your cells for a little while. But antibodies arent your only protection. Your immune cells have a long memory, and once they spot infection, theyll start pumping out new antibodies and jumping on cells the virus invades.
One last thing to note: Dont be too worried by cold symptoms small miseries like sore throat, runny nose and fever arent caused by COVID-19, but by your immune system springing into action and making your body an inhospitable place for the virus. You might feel terrible, but thats likely to be the worst of it.
You can certainly become reinfected after about 6 months if we are talking about the same variants, and earlier than 6 months if we get a new variant circulating that looks really different from the past ones, Chin-Hong said. But if you have hybrid immunity and are not severely immunocompromised, you will likely have protection from serious disease for more than a year if not several years.
New Covid-19 cases have climbed higher in recent days in some European countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany, drawing renewed attention to the Omicron sub-variant known as BA.2.
The causes for the increases, which come after a month and a half of steep drops in case counts, remain unclear. Yet much of Europe, including parts of the U.K., has effectively ended Covid-19 restrictions in recent weeks, which could be driving the rise in cases.
The...
Residents in Elmhurst, Queens, one of the citys neighborhoods hit hardest by Covid-19 during the early months of the pandemic, were particularly wary. Neha Shah, 25, worried about her diabetic father, and said she had been trying to avoid tightly packed restaurants and cafes.
I just feel like its for public safety, Ms. Shah said. Im not OK with them being dropped.
For Emily Suardy, a barista at Furmans Coffee in Brooklyn, masks could not come off soon enough. They made work in her small coffee shop hot and uncomfortable, and she felt safe going about her daily life given that she and her co-workers, friends and family were vaccinated.
Even if there is a spike in positive Covid-19 cases or another variant pops up, she said, she would be reluctant to go back to masking up inside unless the city reinstates its mandate.
Im really tired of it, Ms. Suardy said. If its not mandatory, I wont use it.
That was not the case with one of New Yorks most well-known recovering Covid-19 patients, the Broadway icon Patti LuPone.
For two years, Ms. LuPone said she had taken every precaution. But as Omicron ebbed, she said, she had started going out and grown a bit lax about mask-wearing. Then, late last month, she tested positive before a performance of Stephen Sondheims Company, and had to leave the theater.
For 10 days, Ms. LuPone had to isolate, a lady who lunched alone in her apartment as she coped with flulike symptoms and fatigue.
Heres the latest news from the pandemic.
Epidemiologists have long feared a twin Covid-flu pandemic. This week, we learned that while omicron was surging across the U.S., the flu vaccine Americans received this year didnt work well enough to keepmild to moderate illness at bay.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that the efficacy of this years flu-shot formulation was estimated at just 16%, which the federal health agency said is little different from simply going without the vaccine. To be sure, U.S. health officials still advocate vaccination for everyone except the youngest infants as long as the flu is circulating. And more, the data gave no indication of how good the shot was at preventing flu infections that could land someone in the hospital, or even kill.
China isreinstatingmeasures to limit the spread of the coronavirus in several cities amid a spike in infections.
Thus far, China has shut down an industrial city, urged residents not to leave Beijing and closed down schools in Shanghai due to an increase in cases.
Chinese officials reported 588 new confirmed cases in the 24 hours ending on Friday, but no deaths. That included 134 confirmed cases in the northeastern Jilin province, a number which prompted a shutdown of Changchun, a city with 9 million residents, The Associated Press reported.
On Saturday, the mayor of Jilin was replaced, as was the mayor of Changchun, according to the AP.
China operates under a "zero tolerance" strategy, finding and isolating every case and sometimes conducting mass testing in cities and towns.
Hong Kong has also battled a wave of the novel coronavirus since February, and hospitals, morgues and isolation centers are overflowing. On Friday, 29,381 new infections and 196 deaths were reported in the city,according to Reuters.
The city's leader, Carrie Lam, warned they were not at the peak of the wave yet, and urged more residents to get vaccinated.Ninety percent of residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, but only 53 percent of those over 80 years old have been vaccinated, Reuters reported.
"Over 90 percent of the deaths were those who had not been fully vaccinated. We need to catch up and vaccinate every Hong Kong citizen," Lam said at a news briefing, per Reuters.
As of Friday, it's officially been two years since the World Health Organization first declared Covid-19 a pandemic. Numerous U.S. states are relaxing Covid mandates, amid a nationwide drop in daily new cases.
But a major new report warns: Don't let your guard down, because there's a lot more work to do before the pandemic officially ends.
The report, written by an independent group of 53 doctors and public health policy experts including former government health officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations is a 136-page roadmap for getting to the "next normal," and safely living with Covid for the foreseeable future. It provides recommendations to local, state and federal governments on how to deal with the virus, which it describes as "here to stay."
While the report says that "omicron won't be the last variant," it says that with the right public health policies, people can go back to something close to their "pre-pandemic routines and lives." To achieve this, the report offers recommendations to help firmly shift Covid into its endemic phase, and bring the U.S. into post-pandemic life.
Here are its biggest takeaways:
To successfully transition into a new normal, the report says that Covid-19 death rates will need to decline to a similar level as influenza, a comparable endemic disease that kills more than 50,000 Americans in a year. That means fewer than 165 new deaths per day, on average.
As of Thursday, the seven-day average of daily new U.S. deaths is 1,259, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That's roughly seven times higher than the report's recommended target, meaning there's still significant work ahead before the country is in the clear.
The report suggests that getting more people vaccinated would substantially help. Ideally, it says, at least 85% of the U.S. population should get at least two doses of a Covid vaccine. Currently, the U.S. is approximately 65% fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To live with Covid long-term, the report says, the country needs more therapeutic drugs likely "a cocktail of two or three drugs" that can prevent serious illness and hospitalization after you become infected.
The report's authors recommend a new Operation Warp Speed originally a partnership between the U.S. federal government and private companies to fast-track Covid vaccine production in 2020 and 2021 to accelerate the progress of some antiviral Covid drugs already in development.
Two such drugs, developed by Pfizer and Merck, have already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The report says two isn't enough, calling for a wider array of available therapeutic treatment options.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden announced a new, upcoming "Test to Treat" program in his State of the Union address. Once live, the program intends to offer free antiviral pills immediately to people who test positive for Covid at major pharmacies, federally qualified health centers and long-term care facilities.
For now, the program is operational in only a few hundred locations. It's expected to ramp up to tens of thousands of locations in the next few weeks. A federal "Test to Treat" website where you can find participating facilities is expected to launch in mid-March. More information on the program can be found here.
Citing poor communication from health officials during the pandemic, the report calls for a centralized "information and communication center" that would oversee the sharing of data about infectious diseases. The new entity would also communicate when and where you should wear masks, if Covid-19 cases surge.
Under recently revised CDC guidelines, masks are no longer actively recommended if you live in an area where Covid cases are less than 200 per 100,000 residents, there are fewer than 10 Covid-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people over the previous week and Covid patients are taking up less than 10% of available hospital beds, based on a seven-day average.
You can learn whether masks are currently recommended in your county at theCDC's website.
The report says that more research and funding from Congress and state legislators should be provided to mitigate Covid-related health disparities disproportionately impacting people of color, rural communities, tribal lands, and other underserved groups and locations. These groups tend to have less access to medical care and higher mortality rates, compared to the rest of the U.S. population.
The report's authors recommend a few ways to reach those underserved areas, like funding the local health efforts of community leaders and faith-based organizations. Those communities are more inclined to distrust government agencies and the healthcare system in general, the report notes.
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Mar 11, 2022 10:00 AM
In March, we observe the two-year anniversary of providing care to COVID-19 patients at University of Utah Health. Similar to the year prior, 2021 was unprecedented and marked with uncertainty over new emerging virus variants. Utah saw the number of daily positive infections and hospitalizations reach levels it has never seen before.
Delta surge
1,690 positive COVID-19 cases (highest 7-day average)
580 hospitalizations (highest 7-day average)
Omicron surge
10,600 positive COVID-19 cases (highest 7-day average)
830 hospitalizations (highest 7-day average)
COVID-19 Variants
Much of the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic focused around new virus variants. In the last year, at least fourprominent COVID-19 variants were identified. While the Brazil and South Africa variants did not have a direct impact on Utah, the Delta variant caused more severe disease and steadily drove up daily positive cases and ICU admissions at U of U Health.
During the peak of Delta (mid-September 2021), U of U Health saw:
In December 2021, Omicron became the next predominant variant in the U.S. and quickly made its way to Utah for another surge. Omicron, identified as more transmissible and contagious than Delta, once again put a strain on health care systems across the country and caused a heightened demand for COVID-19 testing. Because of this, U of U Health saw more hospitalizations than with any other previous variant. However, ICU admissions were less than half during the Delta surge due to Omicron causing much less severe disease.
During the peak of Omicron (mid-January 2022), U of U Health saw:
During both surges, COVID-19 vaccines helped prevent infection, hospitalization, and death. Though less effective at preventing infection (and breakthrough infection), the vaccines have been extremely effective in preventing hospitalization and death.
COVID-19 Vaccines
Several major milestones were achieved over the last year with COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines became available for children ages 5 years and older, and full licensure was granted to both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, COVID-19 booster vaccines were authorized for anyone ages 12 and older to further protect them from severe disease and hospitalization.
At U of U Health, COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots were administered at all community health centers. In the last year, U of U Health administered at least 150,370 COVID-19 vaccinations, including:
Since receiving COVD-19 vaccines at U of U Health, nearly 190,300 total vaccinations have been administered.
Treatments
More potential relief for SARS-CoV-2 infection became available to patients at U of U Health over the last year. While not as effective as COVID-19 vaccines, these COVID-19 treatments help reduce a persons risk of becoming sicker and help those who may be more vulnerable to severe disease from the virus. Current COVID-19 treatments include:
Testing
U of U Health saw a demand for COVID-19 testing during the Delta and Omicron surges. At the peak of Delta, the health system tested about 250 patients a day in early September. However, during the Omicron surge, COVID-19 testing at U of U Health exceeded its testing capacity because of how contagious and transmissible Omicron became. At the peak of Omicron, test volumes reached more than 350 a day in mid-January.
At U of U Health:
Testing for SARS-CoV-2 is now more convenient than ever for patients at U of U Health with self-serve COVID-19 testing. In early 2022, U of U Health transformed COVID-19 testing by providing self-serve kiosks at seven community health centers just in time for the Omicron surge. These outdoor, temperature-controlled kiosks offer kits for saliva PCR or nasal swab PCR.
Research
The University of Utah campus helped shape and unfold a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 over the last year. The research response to COVID-19 has been life-changing and continues to be recognized on a global scale. To date, the research response to COVID-19 involves:
Some U of U Health research projects includes:
Campus, Community, and State Partnerships
coronavirus covid-19
WASHINGTONThe Biden administration is warning that it might have to scrap critical Covid-19 programs, a potential blow to its efforts to combat the pandemic, unless Congress moves quickly to approve funding left out of the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package.
The administration initially floated a $30 billion request, which it then formally cut to $22.5 billion, only to be reduced further to $15.6 billion by congressional negotiators. With Republicans insisting that no new money be allocated until previous funding rounds were exhausted, rank-and-file Democrats then balked at a proposal to reuse unspent funds intended for state governments, prompting party leaders to pull the provision altogether.
