Doctors say don’t drop your guard on COVID-19 | 11 TV Hill
Doctors say don’t drop your guard on COVID-19 | 11 TV Hill WBAL TV Baltimore
11 TV Hill: Better now than before, but COVID-19 isn’t gone
Updated: 11:30 AM EDT Sep 25, 2022
YOU FOR COMING BY. A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE THE START OF THE COVID PANDEMIC. WE NOW HAVE NEW VACCINES TARGETING THE MOST PROBLEMATIC VARIANTS, AND WE HAVE A MUCH BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE VIRUS AND ITS MUTATIONS. BUT HEADING INTO THE WINTER MONTHS, LOCAL HEALTH OFFICIALS SAY NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO DROP YOUR GUARD. JOINING US IS A DOCTOR FROM NORTHWEST HOSPITAL, GOOD TO SEE YOU. I’M SURE YOU HEARD RIPPLES OF THE PRESIDENT SAYING WE ARE NOT IN THE PANDEMIC ANYMORE. HE WALKED IT BACK SAYING WE ARE NOT WHERE WE WERE. EXPLAIN WHERE WE ARE WITH COVID-19 RIGHT NOW. >> WE ARE MUCH BETTER OFF THAN WHEN THE PANDEMIC STARTED WITH VACCINES, TREATMENT OPTIONS, AND WE KNOW A LOT MORE ABOUT THE DISEASE, SO THEY TOLD US WHEN WE WERE KIDS, KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE. I THINK WE HAVE GOTTEN A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION. WE ARE NOT OUT OF THE WOODS. THIS WINTER WILL BE A HUGE TELLING POINT TO SEE WHERE WE ARE. JASON: I WAS LOOKING AT NEW SHOT APPOINTMENTS, AND THEY ARE DISAPPEARING BY THE DAY, SO I GUESS PEOPLE ARE GETTING THEM. WHAT ARE YOU NOTICING AT THE HOSPITAL, DOES IT FEEL THE MOMENTUM IS STILL THERE? DR. SHETH: UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE SEEING IT LACKS A LITTLE BIT AT THIS POINT. WHAT WE ARE SEEING IS THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY WENT TO GET THE SHOT, THEY ARE RIGHT THERE. I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HESITANT TO FEEL LIKE THEY GOT THE VACCINE BEFORE, SO WHY DO THEY NEED TO GET THE NEW VACCINE? IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IS THAT OUR IMMUNITY DOES WANE A LITTLE BIT. THIS IS GOING TO PROVIDE YOU A LOT MORE PRODUCTION — PROTECTION AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO WINTER MONTHS TO KEEP YOU OUT OF THE HOSPITAL. THE LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO IS SEE ME. JASON: WHO SHOULD BE GETTING THE SHOT RIGHT NOW? SHOULD WE BE FOCUSED ON IMMUNO AND OLDER FOLKS, OR SHOULD EVERYONE BE GETTING IT? DR. SHETH: EVERYONE SHOULD BE GETTING IT. IT IS APPROVED FOR EVERYONE 12 AND OLDER. ANYONE UNDER 12, THEY PROBABLY HAVE JUST GOTTEN THEIR BOOSTERS, BUT OTHERWISE, ANYBODY OLDER THAN 12 SHOULD GET THE SHOT. JASON: DOES IT FEEL LIKE YOU ARE DEALING WITH A DIFFERENT ILLNESS NOW? WHEN YOU THINK BACK TO THE BEGINNING, WE SOME MORTALITY RATES, PEOPLE WERE NOT SURVIVING THIS. NOW SOME FOLKS STAY HOME AND MAYBE PAXLOVID HELPS THEM. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE NOW? DR. SHETH: IN GENERAL, THE FEAR FACTOR THAT WAS THERE BEFORE HAS GONE AWAY, WHICH I THINK IS A HUGE PART OF IT. EVERYBODY WAS LIVING IN FEAR AT HOME OF THE UNKNOWN. NOW WE KNOW A LOT MORE. WHEN A PATIENT COMES IN WITH COVID, WE ARE NOT SCARED AS TO WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE PATIENT. WE HAVE TREATMENT FOR THE CALLS, AND WE HAVE VERY FEW PATIENTS WHO ARE COVID POSITIVE. WHEN THEY ARE POSITIVE, A LOT OF TIMES THEY ARE AT THE HOSPITAL FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND COVID HAPPENS TO BE ANOTHER DISEASE THEY MAY HAVE ALREADY HAVE. JASON: I SEE TWO THINGS THAT MAKE ME QUESTION WHAT IS GOING ON, CONCERTS WITH PEOPLE SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH NO MASK. I HAVE GONE BY BUS STOPS, KIDS ARE WEARING MASKS AND THEY SEEM TO BE FINE WITH IT. ONE OF THE RIGHT THINGS? IS IT A PERSONAL DECISION? DR. SHETH: I DEFINITELY THINK IT IS A PERSONAL DECISIO. THE MANDATES, WHEN WE FIRST HAD THEM, WERE COMPLETELY APPROPRIATE. AT THIS POINT, THERE HAVE BEEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO GET VACCINATED. IT IS AT YOUR OWN COMFORT LEVEL. THE RISK IS NEVER GOING TO BE ZERO, BUT EVERY TIME YOU STEP INTO A VEHICLE, THERE WAS ALWAYS A RISK YOU TAKE, BUT IT IS A RISK MOST I WILLING TO TAKE AND WE ARE AT THAT POINT WITH COVID AS LONG AS WE MAINTAIN A LOT OF THE THINGS WE ARE DOING NOW. JASON: DOES ITTAKE ON THE FEELING YOU HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO THE FLU WHERE YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT STRAIN AS TIME GOES ON, SO WE WILL SEE A DIFFERENT SHOT? IT HAS TO BE FORMULATED EACH YEAR? DR. SHETH: WE WILL HAVE TO SEE. IT SEEMS TO BE HEADING ON THAT TRAJECTORY. ONE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN IS THAT OVER TIME, THE CORONAVIRUS MAY END UP BEING LIKE OTHER CORONAVIRUSES, WHERE IT IS NOT REALLY AS EFFECTIVE IN TERMS OF KIND OF CAUSING A LOT OF SYMPTOMS THAT IT DOES NOW. IF THAT COMPLETELY GOES AWAY, THEN YOU REALLY DO NOT NEED TO HAVE ONE EVERY YEAR. FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS, THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE WE WILL END UP HAVING A NEW VACCINE PRETTY MUCH EVERY FALL. JASON: YOU SORT OF HATE IT, I ALWAYS THOUGHT, TO GET TO THE POINT WHERE THIS IS SOMETHING WE LIVE WITH. WE LIVE WITH THE FLU EVERY YEAR, DOING THERE WITH COVID EVERY YEAR? DR. SHETH: I THINK IT IS A POSSIBILITY AND SOMETHING TO KEEP IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND. SOME FLU SEASONS ARE NOT THAT BAD AND OTHER FLU SEASONS ARE MUCH WORSE, SO THAT COULD BE THE SAME TRAJECTORY THAT COVID TAKES, AS
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11 TV Hill: Better now than before, but COVID-19 isn’t gone
Updated: 11:30 AM EDT Sep 25, 2022
Much has changed in the two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We now have new vaccines targeting the most problematic variants. And, we have a much better understanding of the virus and its mutations.|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland’s latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||President Joe Biden said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is over, but is that the case in Maryland? Dr. Kinjal Sheth, chief of critical care at Northwest Hospital, shares what we’re monitoring in Maryland as the virus remains a part of our lives.Heading into the winter months, Maryland health officials said now is not the time to drop your guard. Sheth says we’re much better off than when the pandemic started, but we’re not out of the woods yet, and how this winter could be a huge telling point to see where we really are.
Much has changed in the two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We now have new vaccines targeting the most problematic variants. And, we have a much better understanding of the virus and its mutations.
|| COVID-19 updates | Maryland’s latest numbers | Get tested | Vaccine Info ||
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President Joe Biden said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic is over, but is that the case in Maryland? Dr. Kinjal Sheth, chief of critical care at Northwest Hospital, shares what we’re monitoring in Maryland as the virus remains a part of our lives.
Heading into the winter months, Maryland health officials said now is not the time to drop your guard. Sheth says we’re much better off than when the pandemic started, but we’re not out of the woods yet, and how this winter could be a huge telling point to see where we really are.
