Coronavirus Vaccine Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Officials Call For Vigilance Against Respiratory Illness

Sherri Young, the interim secretary of the DHHR, and incoming secretary for the new Department of Health, spoke with Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As fall arrives, COVID-19 numbers are starting to increase. Just this week, the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) released the latest numbers for COVID-related deaths, and they indicated 15 more people had died in just the last week.

Sherri Young, the interim secretary of the DHHR, and incoming secretary for the new Department of Health, spoke with Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Rice: Tell me about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic and what the public needs to know.

Young: So one thing that the public needs to be aware of is that we have gotten to the point where we can manage and live with COVID. But there’s some things that we can do to keep ourselves safe. And with keeping yourself safe, that means that if we feel sick, or we feel like we have a cold, let’s test, let’s make sure that that’s not the case. If you do test positive, you don’t have to report it, but you should take the proper mitigations to make sure that you reduce the risk of spreading it to other people. And that means staying home and staying away from others for five days, until you’re asymptomatic. And then if you return to work for the next five days for the 10-day total, that you’d wear a mask and just be respectful of your co-workers and people in the general public.

Rice: The FDA and CDC have approved a new COVID-19 vaccine to target variants of the virus. Is that vaccine available in West Virginia?

Young: Yes. So as soon as the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) made their recommendation last week, for those over the age of six months to get that shot, they started shipping out from the warehouses into our pharmacies and into our local health departments. So we’d recommend maybe calling just ahead of time just to make sure that they do have the availability, but most of those have already been shipped. So the availability for that updated vaccine is right in our back door. It’s a great opportunity. And while you’re there, you may want to think about that flu shot as well.

Rice: The new vaccine is recommended for West Virginians ages six months and older, but who will be able to get the shot?

Young: So the difference now is that when we first had vaccines, back in the height of the pandemic, we were giving them out about as fast as we could, and trying to keep up with demand. So the priority had to be around those who had illnesses, those who are older and more vulnerable. And then the recommendations came for the younger folks. The great thing now is that we have the availability for most anybody who wants to get that COVID vaccine. But we still need to make it a priority and educate ourselves on the fact that those who have immune disorders or may be on medications that make their immune system weaker, they do need to make it themselves a priority to get those vaccines because that’s going to help them stave off and hopefully help them from getting COVID. And if not, so then at least having a less severe case due to their medical illnesses.

Rice: What can you tell me about long COVID? Will this new vaccine protect against it?

Young: At different times throughout the pandemic, we’ve identified people who just did not get better from the initial stages, and that can be respiratory illnesses, fatigue, a plethora of things, anything from the loss of smell, and taste that people experience some of the minor symptoms, as well as some very major symptoms are lingering, and people who’ve had COVID, the research that we do have available is that it is much less likely to develop long COVID if you’ve had the vaccine, and that’s because your body has a better ability and can recognize that virus faster because you’ve had the vaccine. It gets your immune system ready to say, ‘Hey, this is a potential threat to us.’ And it helps you mount that defense for your body against COVID.

Rice: Can you speak to the recent increase in infections and hospitalizations we’ve seen attributed to COVID-19?

Young: As we are going into the winter months, we started seeing an uptick around late August, early September, which is when kids go back to school, that’s also when we start to see other respiratory illnesses. So, in some ways, COVID is starting to behave like other respiratory illnesses that we see. When we first were introduced to COVID, there was a different pattern that we were seeing with it. This gives us the ability to have some time to perfect the vaccination updates and make sure that they’re appropriate for what we are seeing at the time. And for right now, the strains that we are seeing are the ones that are present in the vaccines. So we do see an uptick, we’ve seen an uptick of about 3.2 percent in the emergency room visits as well, due to COVID. The way that we monitor it is a little bit different because people do have home tests and other things that don’t get reported the same way.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

New COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Against Variants

A new COVID-19 has been approved for all Americans six months and older.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agreed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s decision to approve a new COVID-19 vaccine.

In a prerecorded update recorded the evening of Sept. 12, Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus czar, provided updates surrounding the new vaccine.

“The recommendation of the advisory committee was to make the shots available for all Americans six months and older, and that’s really exciting,” Marsh said. “Because we know this particular shot, which is designed to target the most common variants, the most common forms of COVID-19 that are circulating right now.”

Marsh said the vaccine will protect from the most common strains of the virus and reduce the risk of Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions by 50 percent.

“And we also know that long COVID happens to about 10 to 15 percent of people that have been infected with COVID-19,” he said. “The risk of long COVID goes up the more times you’re infected, so it’s really important for all age categories to consider getting the updated COVID shot as part of your protection against death and illness but also against long COVID.”

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reported five additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 since last week’s update for a total of 8,188.

“People who are older, and people whose immune systems are not normal, are at the highest risk of severe disease,” Marsh said. “And that’s important because we’ve seen about a 16 percent increase in hospitalizations over the last week or week and a half. And also we’ve seen an increase in the number of deaths from COVID.”

The new vaccines are manufactured by Moderna and by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech.

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be free for most with private health insurance or coverage through Medicare or Medicaid.

This will be the first time the federal government is not buying all the COVID-19 vaccines and distributing them for free, so doctors, hospitals and pharmacies must order them directly.

A federal program to provide free shots to uninsured people at pharmacies will likely launch in mid-October, according to the CDC.

“We know that we’re seeing a slight surge, a slight increase in the risk of spreading COVID-19,” Marsh said. “So the timing of this new COVID-19 shot could not be better.”

Visit the West Virginia COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator to determine when you may be due for a COVID-19 shot.

“Please don’t hesitate to visit our vaccine calculator at vaccinate.wv.gov which is updating even as we speak with the newest recommendations from the FDA and the CDC,” Marsh said. “Also check with your local pharmacies or your medical practices to find out when the vaccines will become available.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Officials Advise Caution Against Fall Respiratory Illness

A new vaccine to protect against the many strains of COVID-19 will be available at the end of September.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus czar, stressed that threats from the coronavirus haven’t gone away during Gov. Jim Justice’s regular briefing.

“Many people are asking, why would I need to consider this updated shot and the reason why is because this shot is directed against the newest and latest most common forms of COVID-19 that are circulating,” Marsh said.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources reported three additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 since last week’s update for a total of 8,183.

Marsh said the new vaccine is highly effective at protecting against the most common forms of the virus, belonging to the Omicron family.

While COVID-19 is still a threat, Marsh also cautioned against other forms of respiratory illness that become prolific in the fall. A new preventative medication against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV) will be available and Marsh recommends those 8 months and younger receive the preventative medication.

For adults more than 60 years old, Marsh recommends the new RSV vaccine to avoid the illness.

“That RSV shot is truly a vaccine and we recommend that anyone over 60 or any child eight months and under be given those respective shots with the winter upcoming,” Marsh said.

According to Marsh, the benefit of the vaccines that have been given is limited to about four to six months and recommended those in high-risk groups check the state’s vaccine calculator to check if they are up to date on their shots.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Health Official: Stay Healthy To Protect Your Family For Holidays

Wintertime illnesses are not new, but the coronavirus pandemic has made us all much more aware of how they spread and their affects. This can make a huge difference as we once again travel to spend time with older family members.

News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Dr. Michael Stevens, WVU Health System’s healthcare epidemiologist, about flu, COVID-19 and keeping your family safe this holiday season.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Douglas: What makes the winter worse? And I know it’s a simple question, but why is it worse in the wintertime?

Stevens: Typically, we see more efficient transmission of viruses that require people to be in close proximity to each other. And in the wintertime, we see more people clustered indoors around each other. That’s why we see, traditionally, spikes in different viral illnesses like influenza.

When we look at why we’re seeing really massive spikes in viral activity this year, some of that’s related to the fact that people really haven’t been around each other to the extent that they are now over the past few years, because of COVID. The things we were doing to prevent COVID — masking, distancing — those things have sort of gone away. And we also have reduced immunity, particularly in young kids. And so we’ve seen massive increases in RSV.

Right now, we’re seeing higher influenza hospitalization rates at this time of the year than we’ve seen in over a decade. And now we’re starting to see COVID start to surge again. And so really, we’re in a difficult place with this, this idea of a tri-tripledemic.

Douglas: We are all sort of acting as if the pandemic is over. But I’m guessing you might disagree with that.

Stevens: We definitely are in a new phase of the pandemic than we were over the last couple of years. It’s something that we’re going to have to learn to live with. It’s going to be here for the foreseeable future, but it’s certainly not gone. The same way that people have a healthy respect for influenza, we all know that flu is a common virus, a lot of people get infected with it, but it can be really severe and some people have chronic problems after they get it or some people die from it.

We should have a similar respect for the virus that causes COVID as well, because it’s still a bad virus and people who are at risk for severe illness, particularly people who are older people with medical problems, immunocompromised people can still have really, really bad disease. And we still see deaths from COVID. It certainly isn’t gone. COVID hasn’t gone away. But it’s something we’re all going to have to learn to live with.

Douglas: It seems to still be affecting the older generation, older families. Is that what you’ve seen as well?

Stevens: Particularly people who are 65 and older and very high risk for severe illness. That is something we see. That’s something people can think about with holiday gatherings and the like. If you are going to be around people who are at high risk, whether they’re 65 and up, or they have medical problems, or they’re immunocompromised for whatever reason, people can take extra measures to protect the people they love coming into the holidays.

Douglas: That’s exactly where I was heading next. Coming into the holidays, without getting too cliche, we go to see grandma and grandpa, but we’re putting them at risk if we’re not taking care of ourselves first.

Stevens: I think that’s absolutely right. People can take their health in their own hands and try to prevent infections by making sure they’re up-to-date on COVID vaccinations, which really means, if you’re 5 and up, by having two COVID boosters at this point, if it’s been two months since your last COVID vaccine dose as long as you finish that primary series.

And remember, everyone six months of age and up can get vaccinated for COVID now and should. Everybody six months of age and up can get flu vaccinated as well and definitely should.

But other things beyond vaccination is masking. While you’re traveling, masking is a good idea, because there’s so much flu activity and we’re seeing COVID start to surge. And you may want to consider even avoiding big public gatherings or masking in public for the week or so before you go in and you visit somebody who’s potentially at risk.

The other thing is, if you have symptoms, even sort of mild symptoms of a cold, you should really go get tested for COVID and flu before you potentially expose somebody who could have a really, really big problem if they got COVID or flu.

Douglas: That’s an interesting recommendation to sort of lay low for a week before you leave the week before Christmas. That’s tough with Christmas parties and work and everything else, but lay low and protect yourself a little extra, take extra steps the week before you leave.

Stevens: It’s really just a practical recommendation. Hopefully that gives you a pretty good amount of time where you’re reducing the likelihood you get exposed and develop infections or you’re not exposing other folks. Wearing a high quality mask, something that fits well, ideally is not cloth, that would also give you some extra protection if you have to go live your life and go to the holiday party and that kind of stuff. All these little things will help reduce the likelihood you get infected, and then infect somebody else.

Douglas: Is there anything we haven’t talked about?

Stevens: The other thing that is sometimes brought up is antigen testing before going to gatherings. That’s still something people can do the day before they go to gatherings, although it’s less accessible now. And it’s not accessible to everybody. It’s not perfect. The bottom line is if you have symptoms, whether you have a negative test or not, you probably should isolate, not expose others.

COVID-19 Vaccines For 5 And Under Heading To W.Va.

In Gov. Jim Justice’s Wednesday coronavirus briefing, Joint Interagency Task Force Director Gen. James Hoyer said about 17,400 vaccine doses for children 5 and under will arrive in West Virginia from June 20 through June 29. He said about 8,600 of those will be Moderna and 800 doses will be Pfizer.

COVID-19 vaccines for children 5 years old and younger are heading to West Virginia.

Half the total doses were ordered by pharmacies. The rest will go to physicians, health departments and hospitals.

Hoyer said parents need to be aware of age qualifications on what entity can give the shot.

“Pharmacies can offer vaccines for children ages 3 and older,” Hoyer said. “For under age 3, parents, guardians and caregivers need to reach out to pediatricians and local health departments.”

Hoyer said the state is working with medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatricians, the state Medical Association, Academy of Family Physicians, as well as the Primary Care Association to both encourage and coordinate the ordering and administration of vaccines.

State Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad said the Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations for the youngest will come in multiple shots, some just a few weeks apart.

“The Moderna vaccine will be a two dose vaccine series about four weeks apart,” Amjad said. “Pfizer’s is recommended to be a three dose series, three weeks apart between dose one and two and then two months after dose three.”

Amjad is hopeful final federal approval to begin administering the vaccines will come next week.

W.Va. COVID-19 Czar Highlights New Precautions, Protocols.

West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh says right now, we are dealing with the most infectious forms of COVID-19.

West Virginia COVID-19 hospitalizations have nearly tripled since April. State health experts are now highlighting new precautions and protocols.

West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh says right now, we are dealing with the most infectious forms of COVID-19.

During Gov. Jim Justice’s regular coronavirus briefing Monday, Marsh said the latest omicron variants are breaking through to people who have had a previous infection and gained immunity, or who have been vaccinated four months ago or longer.

“We are all about trying to help people see that staying up to date with the vaccines is absolutely the best protection that you can have against these variants,” Marsh said. “The variants that are coming here are not only more infectious, but they also replicate better in the lower airways, in the lungs.”

Marsh said it’s also been reported that with these new omicron variants, some of the rapid testing may not register positive as quickly as seen before.

“If you do develop symptoms of COVID-19 like disease and the symptoms continue to progress even though you would test negative with a home test, it’s probably a good idea to continue to test yourself,” Marsh said. “Not only so that you make sure that you aren’t infectious to spread it to others. But also if you’re in that vulnerable age category 50 and older.”

Marsh said to expect a new vaccination schedule out soon for people in the highest risk categories.

He also said there are efforts underway to develop a nasal vaccine.

“This virus enters the nose, the mucosal membranes, and the kind of immunity for the mucosal membranes is a different kind of immunity than we get when we get a shot,” Marsh said.

State COVID-19 prevention leaders also say they are ready for distribution when vaccines are approved for children under 5 years old.