As cases appear to stagnate, Covid-19 hospitalizations in the Northeast are down about 11% after peaking about a week ago, and are also down slightly in the Midwest — about 6%, according to data from the Department of Health Health and Human Services. And new Covid-19 hospitalizations are starting to fall across the country, a sign that overall hospitalizations may soon be falling across the country as well.
The agency’s data includes both patients hospitalized for Covid-19 complications and patients who may have been admitted for something else but tested positive for Covid-19. That was true throughout the pandemic, but the proportion of patients who fall into each category may have changed over time.
“All of the current data is showing very encouraging trends, with many of our key health metrics declining steadily and significantly,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday. “But we’re not out of the woods yet. While we’ve been able to pull off significant drops in the metrics, and they continue to drop, they’re still much higher than they were or where we need to be. “
Also this week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced that the state is seeing a decline in Covid-19 hospitalizations and use of intensive care units and ventilators, and in Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont said cases and hospitalizations were also down.
And in New York, the state’s “percent positivity is in the single digits” for the first time since Dec. 20, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.
But in other parts of the country, a different picture. The number of Covid-19 hospitalizations rose by about 15% in the west and about 6% in the south over the past week – with many hospitals thinning out due to surges in patient numbers and severe staff shortages.
In North Carolina, where health officials say the Omicron variant is “sending a record number of people to hospitals,” the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Emergency Management on Friday called for federal assistance to the Charlotte area to help stressed hospital systems . In a press release, health officials said the number of hospital admissions could rise further this month. The vast majority of people hospitalized with the virus are unvaccinated, officials said. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Friday that Covid-19 hospital admissions had risen to a record 1,658, but said he was “hopeful that cases will go down.” In West Virginia, where Covid-19 hospitalizations continue to rise, Gov Jim said. Justice appealed to residents to get their vaccines and boosters, saying it would be a “real mistake” not to do so, who tested positive for the virus earlier this month. Your questions about the coronavirus, answered
CDC weighs “pivot” on language about vaccinations
As the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to spread, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to “pivot” its language around what it means to be fully vaccinated, Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky at a White House briefing on Friday.
However, the director stopped saying the definition of fully vaccinated needs to change and instead focused on what it means to be “up to date” on Covid-19 vaccinations.
Fully vaccinated individuals who are eligible for a booster dose of the vaccine but are not boosted are considered not “up to date” with their vaccinations, Walensky said.
“We’re really working on changing the language to make sure everyone is as up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines as they could be personally based on when they last got their vaccine,” he said Walensky.
“So it’s important that we change our language right now. We really want to make sure people are updated,” she added.
Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday, Dr. Anthony Fauci that the CDC has not updated its definition of “fully vaccinated” because its recommendations are based on “how well protected you are, rather than on a definition.”
“It almost becomes a matter of semantics,” said Fauci, noting that the terminology can confuse people.
“One of the things that we talk about purely for public health reasons is how well you’re protected, not what’s a definition of making someone required or not required,” said Fauci, the lead expert for infectious diseases of the country.
About 63.3% of the US population is fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. Of these people, only about 39.5% received their booster shots. Track Covid-19 vaccinations
New studies provide strong arguments for boosters
Three new major studies from the CDC underscore the importance of a booster shot.
According to a CDC study that examined nearly 88,000 hospitalizations in 10 states, the booster was 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations during a period in December and January when Omicron was the dominant variant. In comparison, getting two shots was 57% effective if at least six months had passed after the second shot.
According to the study, which looked at more than 200,000 visits across 10 states, the booster was 82% effective in preventing visits to emergency rooms and emergency centers. In comparison, two vaccinations were only 38% effective in preventing these visits when at least six months had elapsed after the second vaccination. That study was published Friday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
A second study published in the same place concluded that people who received three vaccinations were less likely to become infected with Omicron. And the third study, to be published in the medical journal JAMA, showed that a booster shot helped prevent people with Omicron from getting sick.
“I think it’s the third dose that really gives you the solid, best protection,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a longtime CDC vaccine advisor who was not involved with the studies.
CNN’s Mirna Alsharif, Deidre McPhillips, Katherine Dillinger and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.
source https://www.bisayanews.com/2022/01/22/us-coronavirus-covid-19-hospitalizations-are-dropping-in-the-northeast-but-rising-in-other-parts-of-the-country/
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