Local physicians talk COVID-19, vaccines and holiday gatherings – Gaston Gazette

COVID-19 and children under 12: How the pandemic affects the unvaccinated

COVID-19 cases have spiked among children especially those under 12 who are unvaccinated. Heres how to protect them.

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Just ahead of the Labor Day holiday, three of the biggest health providers in the region hosteda virtual press conferenceto talk about the severity of the COVID-19 surge.

Via a Zoom conference on Thursday, Dr. Todd Davis, chief physician executive for CaroMont Health, Dr. Sid Fletcher, senior vice president and chief clinical officer for Novant Health, and Dr. Katie Passaretti, epidemiologist and medical director of infection prevention for Atrium Health, urged the public to follow the latest CDC guidance this holiday weekend and to get the vaccine to fight against the delta variant.

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Forty-sevenguests attended the press conference to learn about the doctors' concerns as the variant becomes the most contagious strand of COVID-19.

"We've come together to really try to share with you the impact that we're seeing within the community so that you have an awareness about that and so that we share that with the public at large and kind of let you know that we're in this as a united front," said Fletcher.

As residents of all communities are welcoming the holiday by resting, watching footballor attending a gathering with friends, health professionals are urging those with these plans to take extreme precautions to avoid a further COVID-19 spread.

"There are a lot of concerns right now. We are at a challenging point in the pandemic. Holiday gatherings and travels are certainly a concern as we may see an increase of cases on top of our already high level," said Passaretti.

"Everyone wants to have a great holiday weekend, but please be careful. If you are going to a crowded setting, wear that mask. Do what you can to prevent spreading."

The doctors asked people to limit travel plans while the number of cases is high. A large number of indoor gatherings are also a concern.

According to the data shared by the three health organizations, there's currently an average of 933 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the area, with 92% of those patients being unvaccinated.

"That's very concerning for us," said Fletcher.

Of those,22%are in ICU with 97% on a ventilator.

According to Fletcher, the majority of patients admitted for COVID-19 are of young age in comparison to the majority of patients admitted at the beginning of the pandemic being of an older age.

"We're seeing patients who predominantly are not vaccinated, which is particularly heartbreaking for us because this seems to be preventable, and part of the appeal that we're going to give you is that you do things to proactively protect yourself, to protect your families and to protect the people that you love," said Davis.

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During the discussion, doctors spoke frankly about the concern for capacity at area hospitals.

"Quite frankly, beds are scarce. We are running short on resources and certainly, that's very concerning to us. Itsurrounds difficulties in the capabilities that we have in the hospitals for both medical research capabilities and in particular in intensive care unit capabilities.," said Fletcher.

In addition to concerns about the surge of cases, the physicians talked about the strain on medical professionals to treat the staggering number of patients.

"The thing that we're most challenged by is really staffing. That'sdifferent than what we saw early in the pandemic. So right now we're functioning, but we are really just managing that, and we are incredibly full," said Fletcher.

The trio agreed that COVID-19 is "largely preventable illness," but vaccines are not being taken advantage of to fight the illness. They imploredthe community to help by taking the vaccineto protect themselves and free up time and attention for patients battling other illnesses.

"Our staff are tired andare trying to do everything they can to do to help you, but we would like our community now to start helping themselves as well," said Davis.

The number of newly vaccinated residents continues to decline even after the FDA announced its approval for the Pzifer vaccine, so the encouragement to get vaccinated was not a missing topic of conversation during the conference.

Passaretti acknowledged that somevaccinated peoplehave gotten COVID-19, but the difference istheir cases were mild in comparison to those not vaccinated.

When asked about the outlook if the vaccination rate doesn'timprove, doctors expressed their concern of what is to come.

"Frankly, we don't know. We have tried to model this, but the delta variant is behaving differently than the previous variant that we had to manage. What we're fearful of is if we do not reach community herd protection rates, that we could be experiencing this pandemic for a very prolonged period of time," said Davis.

Beatriz Guerrero can be reached at 704-869-1828 or on Twitter@BeatrizGue_

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Local physicians talk COVID-19, vaccines and holiday gatherings - Gaston Gazette