Tag: COVID-19 Vaccine

Health Experts Advise Vaccination Ahead Of Respiratory Illness Season

As respiratory illness season ramps up, health experts are encouraging West Virginians to promote health and safety in their communities.

West Virginia University (WVU) health experts are encouraging everyone to practice prevention through vaccination as flu and RSV illness season approaches.

Cases of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus or RSV are common, especially in the fall and winter.

In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the 2023-24 updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. 

According to experts like Dr. Gretchen Garofoli, a clinical associate professor at the WVU School of Pharmacy, this new vaccine targets the most common variants of COVID-19 currently circulating.

“It’s important to get those vaccines to prevent those types of diseases, or at least to help us get a milder case if we happen to get sick with them,” Garolfoli said. “That [vaccination] is one of the big things that I’d recommend, but also doing things such as washing our hands, staying away from people when we’re sick, trying not to infect those who are elderly, or who may have compromised immune systems, so really doing our part to try and stop the spread of disease while also keeping ourselves and our families and friends healthy.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics is predicting a similar respiratory illness season compared to last year, with a possibility of more widespread illness and health care system strain.

Individuals ages six months and older are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. West Virginians are encouraged to use the free, online WV COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator to determine when they are eligible and due for any COVID-19 shot.

This year, a new preventative medication against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV) is available for infants.

“For the babies, that’s a little bit different. It’s what we call a monoclonal antibody, so not technically a vaccine, but that helps to offer protection to those littlest folks who tend to have problems when they get RSV at such a young age,” Garolfoli said.

The FDA also approved the use of the first RSV vaccine for people 60 years and older and individuals who are pregnant. According to Garolfoli, vaccine protection is passed on to infants when a pregnant individual becomes vaccinated. The vaccine also protects older adults who are at high risk for severe disease caused by RSV, including life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiolitis.

Finally, an annual flu vaccine is recommended for everyone six months and older, with rare exceptions, and it is particularly important for individuals with conditions that could put them at higher risk for serious complications. 

“A lot of people are hesitant with regards to vaccines, and I say that each and every person I talked to has a different reason for being hesitant,” Garolfoli said. “So it’s important for us as health care practitioners, to sit down and really listen to our patients, listen to their concerns, and then be able to address them on an individual basis.”

The CDC estimates during the 2022 to 2023 flu season, there were up to 50 million illnesses, 670,000 hospitalizations and more than 17,000 deaths attributed to flu.

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

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.

Officials Advise Vaccination Ahead Of Respiratory Illness Season

Officials recommend West Virginians ages six months and older stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations.

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) confirmed an additional 15 West Virginians have died as a result of COVID-19 since last week’s update.

That update brings the state’s total to 8,203 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus czar, said the newly approved 2023-2024 vaccine is available to anyone in West Virginia and can help protect against the virus and its possible long-term symptoms.

“We also know that people in their middle ages, in their 30s to 50s, are the ones that have the highest risk of developing long COVID,” Marsh said. “And the more times you’ve been infected with COVID, the more risks that you have of developing long COVID activities.”

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.

What’s Workforce W.Va. All About And Turning A Former Mine Into A City Park On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we continue our series “Help Wanted, Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force,” as Randy Yohe talks with Scott Adkins, acting commissioner of Workforce West Virginia, about the agency’s job seeking services – and how well they are working.

On this West Virginia Morning, we continue our series “Help Wanted, Understanding West Virginia’s Labor Force,” as Randy Yohe talks with Scott Adkins, acting commissioner of Workforce West Virginia, about the agency’s job seeking services – and how well they are working.

Also, Pittsburgh-based environmental issues program The Allegheny Front’s latest story about efforts to convert former mine lands into a city park in Pittsburgh.

And federal approval moves a new COVID-19 vaccine closer to release, a WVU administrator addresses legislators, and the state’s best tourism year.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

FDA Approves New Reformulated COVID-19 Vaccine

The FDA approved a new COVID-19 vaccine to protect against subvariants circulating throughout the United States.

In an effort to stave off the worst of respiratory illness season, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday approved a new COVID-19 vaccine for anyone six months or older.

The reformulated vaccine targets Omicron subvariants of the virus which are the most common types circulating and hospitalizing people.

If the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agree with the FDA in a decision on Tuesday, the new vaccine could be available by the end of the week.

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. 

However, this is the first time the federal government will not be purchasing vaccines, so doctors, hospitals and pharmacies must order them directly.

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

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