WP Perspectives – March 21, 2022

• VDH has retired its community levels dashboard for consistency with the CDC's new interactive tool which shows (through a map) and lists COVID cases, hospital admissions, and more by county. It also offers a risk level to determine appropriate precautions in your area: CDC's covid-19 community level tool Check it regularly to see what cases are like in your county.
• On March 11, CDC published research demonstrating the effectiveness of a two-dose Pfizer mRNA vaccine against the Omicron variant in children and adolescents ages 5-15 years old. The study was conducted by testing children and adolescents in various states each week for a seven month period, regardless of whether or not they had COVID-19 symptoms. Results showed that completing the two dose series of the Pfizer vaccine reduced the risk of a COVID-19 Omicron infection by 31% in younger children ages 5-11, and by 59% in adolescents ages 12-15. Approximately half of all the infections in unvaccinated children and adolescents participating in the study were asymptomatic. (Courtesy of Blue Ridge Public Health District newsletter: BRHD Update: News 3/18/2022)
• The CDC has announced a new resource to help you find free N95 masks. Visit Find Free Masks or call 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489).  Masks and respirators are effective at reducing transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, when worn consistently and correctly. While all masks and respirators provide some level of protection, properly fitting respirators provide the highest level of protection. Wearing a highly protective mask or respirator may be most important for certain higher risk situations, or by some people at increased risk for severe disease.

Generation Pandemic

In 2021, as the pandemic showed no signs of abating, young people across the country were dealing with isolation and altered dreams, and were trying figure out what their futures would be like. Two college students who wanted to see how their generation was coping were among them. For six months, they crisscrossed 23 states and interviewed more than 80 young people suspended in that transitional time between adolescence and adulthood. . . “After the pandemic, I want to … ” Here is how they responded:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/03/12/pandemic-young-people-hopes

These stories are adapted from Generation Pandemic, an online oral history archive that can be read in full online:  www.generationpandemicproject.com or www.instagram.com/generationpandemic_

“I believe that pandemics end partially because humans declare them at an end,” says Marion Dorsey, an associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, who studies past pandemics, including the devastating 1918 influenza pandemic. Of course, she notes, there is an epidemiological component, characterized by the point at which a disease still circulates but is no longer causing major peaks in severe illness or death. This is sometimes referred to as the transition from a pandemic disease to an endemic one. But for practical purposes, the question of when this transition occurs largely comes down to human behavior.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-not-science-decide-when-a-pandemic-is-over1/

Epidemiology is the science at center of public health. 

Fauci warns COVID-19 infection rates likely to increase.

(The Hill) — White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that COVID-19 infection rates are likely to rise in the next few weeks in the United States after their dramatic drop following the omicron variant’s rapid spread across the country.

“I would not be surprised if in the next few weeks, we see somewhat of either a flattening of our diminution or maybe even an increase,” Fauci said on the ABC News podcast “Start Here,” ABC News reported.

“Whether or not that is going to lead to another surge, a mini-surge or maybe even a moderate surge, is very unclear because there are a lot of other things that are going on right now,” he added.

Cases have fallen heavily across the nation over the last two months, with the average number of new cases totally just over 30,000.  Fauci’s prediction is based on the United Kingdom, where cases have slightly started to go up, although “their intensive care bed usage is not going up, which means they’re not seeing a blip up of severe disease,” Fauci added.

The increase in cases comes as the BA.2 variant is seeing an uptick in the U.S., with Fauci predicting on the podcast the variant will overtake omicron in the future. The U.S. has just begun easing COVID-19 restrictions after two years of pandemic policies such as masking and social distancing. All U.S. states have dropped their mask mandates as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said most areas in the U.S. did not need to require masks indoors.  - WFXR Fox News 3/18/22

For Spanish and full-sized versions: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/west-piedmont/covid-19-vaccine-information