By Norm Needleman, State Senator.
(August 11, 2021) — While I wish I didn’t have to, I’m writing you today to share an update on the latest changes in our state with COVID-19. I’ve heard it said many times recently that while we all want to be done with the virus, the virus is not done with us, and that is true with the rise of the Delta variant. In our state, with high vaccination rates, we are lucky that the impact of this new, virulent strain of COVID-19 has not led to the serious and negative health outcomes seen in other countries, such as India, and states, such as Missouri and Arkansas, that have struggled, and continue to struggle, with its impacts on cases, hospitalizations and deaths. However, the numbers from around our state remain troubling.
We have seen numerous days this summer with several hundred infections reported, a streak that has led to a sharp increase in hospitalizations in just the last six weeks. While our hospital capacity remains well below the peaks of past waves, each hospitalized individual remains a person with a family and a life. Each death from COVID-19 still leaves many mourning the loss of the deceased and each serious infection comes with weeks or months of rehabilitation. It should remind us that, indeed, the virus is still able to cause negative health outcomes. Should our hospitals continue to fill, our health care workers will again be forced to face difficult challenges, with medical care for some of us interrupted as well. One only needs to look to canceled surgeries and overflowing emergency rooms in states like Florida and Texas to understand how this issue impacts more than just those who fall ill.
In recent weeks, the threat of the Delta variant has led to an increase in vaccinations against COVID-19 statewide and nationally, and this remains the single best way any of us can protect ourselves against negative health outcomes. Even if not hospitalized, someone infected with COVID-19 can suffer long-term health issues from the virus. Vaccination is free and easy, with three available vaccines each offering significant protection from serious illness available at pharmacies and vaccination events in our communities. Side effects comparable to a flu shot can occur, but at least to me, that’s worth protection against the worst of the virus. Statistics increasingly show vaccinated people can become infected with COVID-19, largely due to the Delta variant’s increased infectiousness, but the vaccine acts as a primer for our immune systems. Breakthrough cases remain low, the number of individuals hospitalized from them even lower.
I would briefly note that I am not a medical professional, and if you have concerns about the COVID-19 vaccines, please talk to a medical professional you trust. Roughly 96% of doctors are vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the highest rates of uptake in the country; they will be well prepared to address any questions you may have.
While it seems things are going backwards in some ways, our state is well protected against the horrific outcomes of past COVID-19 waves thanks to high vaccine uptake. But we must also remember there are many in our communities still needing protection. Children under the age of 12 are currently unable to be vaccinated, and the immunocompromised in some studies have been shown to receive fewer benefits from vaccination. With this in mind, we must remember that we are all in this together. Our communities can still suffer losses despite the protection provided many of us by the vaccines. Until we can all be protected, we run the risk of harming others.
Depending on the ebb and flow of COVID-19, in coming weeks, some towns and cities will likely impose mask mandates; some will restrict mask wearing to public buildings, while others may expand them to wider settings. While we are all tired of masking up, it is the right thing to do to protect others. You may not know if the person next to you is caring for an aging parent, a young child, or if they themselves have a condition putting them at risk. We owe it to ourselves to provide each other the same treatment we would want provided to us.
In coming weeks and months, we will learn more about this next chapter of the pandemic, one that will hopefully be mild and spare our state of negative outcomes. We owe it to ourselves to be proactive in the face of this latest challenge. I deeply hope it will be the last one.
