According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States as a whole is currently at a community transmission level of “high”. 71.3% of adults have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The seven-day moving average deaths from COVID-19 is currently 452 per day with 664 deaths reported to the CDC on Tuesday, August 10.
Nationally, this most recent COVID-19 surge is seeing increased numbers of severe cases in younger people across the country. According to Tucson pediatrician Dr. Sandy Herron, the average age in the adult ICUs is now in the 40s and otherwise healthy young people frequently require intubation, KVOA Tucson reports.
The Tennessee Health Department projected that children’s hospitals in the state will be full by the end of the week. Nearly 100 children were admitted to the Florida Wolfson Children’s Hospital in July, according to USAToday. The American Academy of Pediatrics sent a letter to acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Janet Woodcock last week, asking the agency to work aggressively to authorize vaccines for children under the age of 12.
Simply stated, the delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for vaccinated adults.
The CDC did announce on Wednesday that new safety data on the COVID-19 vaccine found that pregnant people vaccinated against COVID-19 had no increased risk of miscarriage among those who were immunized within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy. The New York Times notes that the CDC did say the vaccine could be offered during pregnancy, the update strengthens the original advice.
Vaccine Hesitancy
A study from Kaiser Family Foundation found that most unvaccinated adults don’t believe that the vaccines work and see it as a greater health risk than COVID-19 itself. Furthermore, the same study found that vaccinated adults are nearly twice as likely as unvaccinated ones that believe new variants like Delta will worsen the pandemic nationally and locally.
On the other hand, a study from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that there were high levels of trust in doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other medical professionals to do what is best for themselves and their families. At least seven in 10 Americans trust doctors and the levels of trust remained high against bipartisan, racial or gender lines. From Michelle Strollo, senior vice president of NORC’s Health Research Group, via Modern Healthcare:
Public health officials should really look to doctors, nurses and pharmacists to be the megaphone to deliver the message of the importance of getting vaccinated.
Vaccine Mandates in the Health Care Field
In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown has mandated that all health care workers will need to be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing for the virus, according to KGW8 Video. The governor instructed the Oregon Health Authority to issue the rule with the requirement taking effect at the end of September, giving unvaccinated workers nearly two months to get the shot.
Oregon follows California, which issued a similar order on August 5 that employees of hospitals, nursing homes, doctors’ offices, clinics and medical facilities must become vaccinated. It also ordered that visitors to hospitals, skilled nursing homes and facilities for the developmentally disabled must either be fully vaccinated or display a negative COVID-19 test from within 72 hours, according to CalMatters.
Nursing home employees have been a difficult hurdle for vaccinations nationwide. According to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), only 58.6% of nursing home staff has been fully vaccinated. According to Skilled Nursing News, aides, which includes certified nursing assistants, nurse aides, medication aides and medication assistants have the lowest vaccination rates – 45.6% — of vaccination. Over 30% declined the vaccine outright. From CDC researchers:
Together the data suggests that vaccination disparities among job categories likely mirror social disparities in general as well as disparities in the surrounding communities. These findings suggest that vaccination promotion and outreach efforts focused on socially vulnerable and marginalized groups and communities could help address inequities.
The Center for American Progress wants to take vaccination mandates for health care personnel a step further. In a blog post, the thinktank suggests that vaccines should be mandated as a term for participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, through the Medicare and Medicaid Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage.
Although, typically, CMS must go through notice-and-comment rulemaking to modify Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage, the agency may waive this process and instead adopt changes through interim final rules when it finds there is “good cause,” meaning that notice-and-comment rulemaking is “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.” CMS has already waived notice-and-comment rulemaking when amending these health and safety standards in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other State Moves
California will spend $350 million to incentivize COVID-19 shots among Medi-Cal beneficiaries according to the Sacramento Bee. Nearly 14 million Californians are enrolled in the health care program and only 46% of Medi-Cal recipients are vaccinated, according to state data. According to Governor Gavin Newsom, the money will be used to provide incentives and fund strategies to engage Black and Brown communities to become vaccinated and feeling supported in their decisions to do so.
The Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics send a letter to Colorado Governor Jared Polis and other state-level public health officials urging immediate universal masking for all Colorado schools and childcare settings. From Edward Maynard, MD, Chapter President:
Colorado students need access to safe, uninterrupted learning this school year. The time has come for statewide action to make that happen. The current patchwork of school policies across the state will result in more COVID-19 cases, more transmission of the virus, more quarantines, and repeated school closures.
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