Short Wave - COVID-19 News: A Hospital System Overwhelmed, Booster Shots Update

Episode Date: August 17, 2021

In the last two weeks or so, the number of new daily COVID-19 cases in the United States has increased by about 40 percent. Compared to a year ago — when we didn't have the vaccine — we have three times the number of new cases on average. NPR correspondent Allison Aubrey talks with Maddie about a hospital system in Mississippi that's struggling to find beds for patients, the push to get kids vaccinated, and booster shots for people who are immunocompromised. You can always reach the show by emailing [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Maddie Safaya here. In the last two weeks or so, the number of new daily COVID cases in the U.S. has increased by about 40%. Compared to this time last year, we have three times the number of new cases on average. I mean, think about that. Last year, we did not have the vaccines. Hospitals in the South and the Sunbelt are being hit especially hard right now. now. So today on the show, we've got a COVID news roundup with NPR's health correspondent

Alison Aubrey. We hear about a hospital system in Mississippi that's struggling to find beds for patients, talk about kids getting vaccinated, and booster shots for people who are immunocompromised. This is Shortwave, the Daily Science podcast from NPR. All right, NPR's health correspondent Alison Aubrey, you've been looking into these rising case numbers. What are they telling you? Well, you know, the virus is circulating so widely, really throughout the country. In fact, 84% of U.S. counties have a high rate of transmission. That's according to the CDC. But parts of the South Maddie are really struggling, including Mississippi, where only about 42% of eligible people are fully vaccinated. I spoke to Dr. Luann Woodward. She oversees the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Now, they started delaying or post- elective procedures a few weeks back, and now they're just struggling to find beds for the surge of COVID patients. The beds are full, the ICUs are full, the ERs are full, patients are backing up. And on top of that, we are short-staffed, everybody across the state is short-staffed,

and we've got staff out because they are sick or they have family members that are sick. Wow, Alison. Yeah, she says it is a very tough situation there. more than 90% of the people hospitalized with COVID right now there in Mississippi have not been vaccinated. And I have to imagine, I mean, just from the tone of her voice, this has to be very difficult for the doctors and nurses and other frontline hospital staff. Yeah. I mean, I think the observation of a lot of people is that it didn't have to come to this if more people had been vaccinated. And Dr. Woodward says health care workers there are frustrated. They're tired. This has been going on a long time. And, you know, it can be especially tough when you have to tell a patient who was scheduled for, say, a heart procedure that, no, you'll have to wait. There are no beds right now.

It's not just adults in the hospital with COVID. It's kids, too. She says the pediatric wards are also filling up. We have more pediatric patients right now hospitalized with COVID than at any point prior in this pandemic. We are seeing a younger group of patients that are getting. very sick with this. And again, many of them are previously healthy. It is so unsettling for parents to hear this, especially as a new school year begins in Mississippi. Several school districts have pivoted to virtual learning, given the severity of the situation there. Now, it is true, Maddie,

that most kids who get COVID have only mild infections or maybe they're even asymptomatic. But the CDC now has reports of about 4,400 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome. children. This is throughout the pandemic that they've been keeping count. This is one of the conditions that leads kids to the ER. And nationwide, the number of kids diagnosed with COVID in recent weeks has just shot up. Yeah. I mean, this has to be adding to the urgency of getting more kids who are eligible, 12 and older, vaccinated, but also getting the vaccine authorized for younger kids, right? Yeah, there's a huge push by pediatricians to get more middle school and high school-aged kids vaccinated. And they'd also like that.

like to see the vaccine authorized for kids five to 11. Right now, vaccine makers, Pfizer, and Moderna have been asked to expand the number of young children in their clinical trials to include thousands of more kids. Now, the point of this is to be extra careful that they're spotting any adverse events related to the vaccine. But pediatricians say they hope that this doesn't delay authorization. I spoke to Moderna about this, the potential timing and what they've seen so far in the clinical trial with children. Here's Dr. Jacqueline Miller. She's a senior vice president at Moderna. The safety profile so far is really comparable to the adults and so far in those safety concerns. And then for the moment, we're targeting at the end of the year for the six to 11 year olds

and early next year for the six-month-olds to six-year-olds. But that actually could be done more rapidly depending on the rate of enrollment. She says depending on where you are in the country, there are still opportunities for families who want to enroll their kids in this trial. All right. Okay. I want to switch gears a little bit, Alison, and talk about booster shots or, you know, an additional dose of the vaccine for people. What's the latest there? Well, last week, the CDC authorized a third dose for people with weakened immune systems. Now, immunocompromise people make up about 2.7% of adults in the U.S. It's about 7 million people. And they're more likely to get severely ill from COVID. 19. Also, overall, though it varies, they tend to have a lower antibody response to the initial vaccines and are more likely to transmit the virus to household contacts. So there's a pretty comprehensive list of people who are eligible for the additional dose. It includes people who

are receiving treatment for certain cancers, organ transplant patients who take medicines that suppress the immune system, people with advanced HIV infection, and people who are taking high-dose corticosteroids or other drugs that can suppress the immune system. So if you think you fall into any of these groups, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor. So the third dose at this time is not being broadly recommended. That's right. I mean, it is possible that the U.S. could expand eligibility at some point. Right now, vaccine makers are testing different formulations of a third dose. Moderna is set to study a booster dose that specifically targets the Delta variant, as well as different formulations that could protect against multiple strains. Here's Dr. Miller again.

Antibodies wane over time. And I think ultimately the immunity after our vaccine will wane as well. And because we have not really gotten the pandemic under control, I do think that people will need a booster at some point in time. She says by the end of this month, the company plans to be giving the Delta booster as part of their ongoing clinical trial of the vaccine. All right, Alison, before you go, you've been following this so closely. I'm just wondering, can you give us kind of an idea of where we're headed in the near-term future? Sure. Some modelers predict that this surge could peak in mid-October. Recently on NBC, Michael Osterholm, who directs the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said this surge could sustain itself for at least another four to six weeks. We're now seen in the southeast, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Southern Illinois all start to take off. We're seen in the northwest in states like Oregon and Washington.

And he says, look at hospitalizations around the country. The average daily admissions have more than tripled over the last month. I mean, every day, about 10,000 COVID patients, on average, are being admitted to hospitals across the country. Okay, Alison Aubrey, as always, we are. Appreciate you keeping us updated. Thanks for coming on the show. Great to be here. Thanks, Maddie. This episode was produced by Thomas Liu, edited by Jane Greenhalsh and Biot Leigh, and fact-checked by Indy Kara. The audio engineer for this episode was Quacey Lee.

I'm Maddie Safaya. Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR. NPR's Planet Money Summer School is in session. This season is all about investing. Like, is it better to buy a lot of one stock or a little bit of a lot of stocks? What are bonds? Is it ever too late to start investing? New classes every Wednesday to Labor Day in the Planet Money podcast feed.