States across the country are reporting an increase in Covid-19 cases. But in one state – Michigan – another boom has overwhelmed already exhausted hospitals and health workers, says one local health leader.
© Emily Elconin / Reuters
Nurses file paperwork for patients at Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, on April 16, 2021
And there are different reasons behind the crisis.
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“One, we believe the total infection rate in Michigan has been lower during the pandemic so far,” Beaumont Health CEO John Fox told CNN on Saturday. “Secondly, Michigan recently opened … with different orders being lit.”
Officials reported last week that Beaumont Health’s eight hospitals in two provinces in the Detroit area were 90% -95% full and that the number of Covid-19 patients jumped from 129 in late February to more than 800 patients in April.
“Unfortunately, I think people have given up their problems with infection control, they are not wearing their masks as much as they should, (or) social distance, hand hygiene,” Fox added.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the most effective way for places like Michigan to deal with major Covid-19 outbreaks was to shut down, rather than to deploy vaccines from other states.
“The best way to be in the middle of a really big outbreak and a big boom is to shut things down a lot more,” Fauci said. “If you take vaccines from other places and move around, you make that place vulnerable to what’s going on in Michigan. That’s why you do not see many vaccine recovery systems from one state to another.”
Fox said the highly contagious B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant further complicates the situation in Michigan, spreading not only across the state but across the country.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cases of this variant, first detected in the UK, have been reported in all 50 US states. According to CDC data, Florida leads the country with the most cases of the B.1.1.7 strain, followed by Michigan and Minnesota.
And with a large portion of the older population vaccinated against the virus, the variant hit younger groups hard.
“It really occurs in all of our ERs and honestly in our inpatient units,” Fox said. “We are treating younger patients than we have ever seen before.”
Emergency physician and CNN medical analyst, dr. Leana Wen says she is worried about what this could mean for Michigan and the US.
“What’s happening in Michigan right now could very well happen in other states,” she told CNN on Saturday. “Especially since we have this more contagious B.1.1.7 variant that now dominates in the US.”
The encouraging news, Wen added, is that vaccinations against Covid-19 are accelerating, which could help stem another potentially violent upsurge in the country.
A quarter of all Americans are fully vaccinated
In the race to vaccinate as many Americans as possible, another important milestone is reached: more than a quarter of Americans are now fully vaccinated.
According to CDC data, more than 84 million were fully vaccinated – about 25.4% of the population – and more than 129 million Americans received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, or about 39% of the U.S. population. Half of Americans aged 18 and older received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, according to the data.
From Monday, all people in the US aged 16 and over will be eligible to receive the vaccine.
Meanwhile, a recommended break in the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in the US continues. CDC and Food and Drug Administration officials made the recommendation on six reported U.S. cases of a “rare and serious” type of blood clot, among more than 6.8 million Americans who took the shot.
Vaccination advisers for the CDC, after meeting last week without taking a decision, rescheduled a meeting for April 23 to discuss whether the J&J vaccine causes blood clots and, if so, what to do about it. to do to it. The group said earlier they needed more information.
Fauci told CNN on Sunday that he expects a decision on the vaccine by Friday.
“I do not want to come before the CDC and the FDA and the advisory committee, but I would imagine that what we will say is that it would come back and it would come back in some warning or restriction,” he told CNN ‘s Dana Bash said about “State of the Union.”
Fauci said it was the wise thing to stop, saying “you want to make sure you have all the information you need.”
In an interview with CNN on Saturday, Wen also said she welcomes the break.
“I’m glad the interruption is happening, because it really illustrates that our system works, that our federal health officials prioritize – more than anything else – safety,” Wen said. less than one in a million. We really need to be reassured about their commitment to safety. “
The other two Covid-19 vaccines that also received the green light in the US – Pfizer and Moderna – are not implied during the break. And in the coming weeks, it will be important to continue the important messages about their safety, Wen said, and why Covid-19 vaccinations are critical.
“We are doing this because we have a pandemic that has claimed more than 500,000 lives here in the US,” Wen added.
During an information session in the White House Covid-19 on Friday, dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, said officials recognize the importance of moving quickly with the suspended J&J vaccine.
“What I would say to the American people is that what we have found are extremely rare cases through our vaccine safety monitoring system. And that we are transparent – this meeting will be public on Friday, people can call in – we carry transparent about that science, ‘Walensky said.
Officials also contacted thousands of suppliers to inform them about what kind of cases they should look for, she said.
“And we want to pass that on to the American public: we have two vaccines that are readily available – the Pfizer and the Moderna – and people need to keep up their sleeves to get vaccinated,” Walensky added.
Fauci: Keep wearing masks
Fauci told CNN on Sunday that people should continue to wear masks even if they have been vaccinated. He said it is possible that someone could be vaccinated but still be infected without any signs of clinical disease. They can then accidentally transmit the virus to someone who has not yet been vaccinated.
Variants and breakthrough infections, though uncommon, are another reason to continue wearing masks, he told CNN.
‘We do not want people to think that you do not dramatically reduce your risk when you are vaccinated, you absolutely do, the risk is very low and people will make decisions about what they want to do and it will be a family member. risk, ‘he said.
Fauci told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that it should be clear by the fall whether people should get Covid-19 boosters.
“I believe by the end of the summer and the beginning of the fall we will have a good idea whether we should definitely give our people a boost or when we should give it,” he told ABC’s Martha Raddatz.
Fauci said determination will be based on the level of what would be considered a correlative immunity, such as the level of antibody. “If the slope starts to drop, you can predict when you’re going to get below the safe level, or you can see breakthrough infections,” he said.
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