Let's get this recording.
So Doctor Jarvis we had the BA 5
variant circulating for a little bit.
Now in management a couple of weeks.
What are your observations about
how this is infecting people and
how it's presenting and and what
makes it different from what we've
seen of other Omicron variants?
I'll start with the presentation part first.
It really has not been showing up to be
any different than we've seen with the
last few Omicron variants for most people,
so those that get infected,
they they they most of them will have mild
cold like symptoms and then get over it.
Though I will say that I have heard from a
few patients that who have been infected
with a with a prior variant and then got
infected with what we suspect to be BA.
5 have said that this time they felt that
the symptoms were were stronger or more.
Never than they had seen before.
The reason why we're seeing so
much of this though,
is that this this particular variant is far
more infectious not only than what we've
seen with prior variants of coronavirus,
but far more infectious than
most viruses that are out there.
In fact, right now,
the World Health Organization is looking
at this as as possibly being the most
infectious virus we have beating out measles,
which currently is the most
infectious virus that's out there.
So you know that should be
a cause for concern,
and it does seem to have the
ability to evade immunity,
whether that's immunity from a prior
infection. Or from vaccination.
And so again that leads to more
of that spread.
The good news is for those
who are vaccinated,
particularly those who are up to
date on their vaccines for whatever
their recommended boosters are on it.
Those continue to protect you
from severe disease,
hospitalization and death.
And of course,
those are the most important things.
But you know,
getting infected and feeling
sick isn't a great thing either,
and so so that's one of the concerns we have.
Are we seeing the the severity
of the illness in terms of people
being hospitalized or having to
do critical care and ventilators?
I mean, we've been tracking kind of
the statewide trends in those numbers,
but as as it relates to BA5,
are we seeing the severity of the
illness B less than previous variants?
Especially like like Delta
or the original Omicron?
So it appears that way again in Maine.
Probably still a little bit too early to
tell because our numbers are relatively low,
but when we look around the country,
there really does not seem to be a
spike in people who are requiring.
Hospitalizations of ventilators,
or death outside of an increase
in the in the sheer volume of
people who are being infected.
So that's good news and welcome news
for us and tends to follow the history
of respiratory viruses as they evolve
on you know that they become more
infectious and but usually less.
Uh, where they're causing more
severe disease?
And so so those are,
it appears that's what we're seeing,
but it may still be a little bit
early for us to tell because again,
overall our numbers aren't like what
we saw with the huge delta wave or the
very beginnings of the Omicron wave on
what we saw a tremendous amount of people,
and that gives us a lot more information.
But there are some pockets in the
United States right now where both
BA four and BA 5 SUB variants are
causing significant increases,
and again, main typically trails.
Behind everybody else,
so I think it's a word of caution for
us that while right now relatively
low numbers out there still certainly
spread of disease in our communities.
But it may look like at the end of the
summer the beginning of the school
year may be a rough time for us again.
OK, so so do you. What would you be?
What would you recommend to people who,
regardless of their status right
being up to date on their shots?
Or maybe they you know are are are
not up to date on their shots?
Are we expecting that people should be?
Will be advised to start wearing
masks indoors in public places?
Again I I personally haven't had a chance
to check the US CDC's like Community,
Transmission and Community levels
maps yet this week, so I don't know.
Kind of where that stands, but.
Given what this this sub variant can do
in terms of evading people's immunity,
do you expect that that's in our future?
Yeah, it could very well be.
Like I said, there are pockets around
the United States where public
health is is now strongly encouraging
people to wear masks while in any
indoor setting we are not there.
Most of our counties in the state of Maine
are in the low Community risk category.
I believe Arista County is the only one
right now in the medium risk category,
but when we look at actual transmission,
if we remember a year ago
right before July 4th,
you know here in the state of Maine we had
almost no virus going out in our communities.
That's not where we are right now.
We are higher than we were there.
We're just much lower than
any surge that we saw.
So I think there's that.
That comfort level from that.
But we got to remember there is
circulating virus and there's
still certainly a large number
of individuals who are becoming
infected in Maine every single day.
So with that said,
I still think that wearing masks indoors,
particularly if you're going to be
in an indoor location where there's
a lot of people and you're going
to be in there for a prolonged.
Period of time masking is probably
still a good idea,
especially if you're vulnerable to
high high risk of disease because
you have an underlining health
condition or you're immunocompromised
either because of an underlying
health condition or a treatment
for an underlying health condition.
Those people should definitely consider
wearing masks if you're over the age of 60,
you should definitely consider
wearing a mask in those settings.
I think the rest of us probably
need to just continue to monitor
what's out in our communities,
and if we start to see an increase
then go back to those same kind of
precautions that we've talked about.
But most importantly is to keep
up to date on your vaccinations.
So if currently you are recommended
to get a booster shot and have not
received received the appropriate
booster shot for your category,
you should be reaching out to
your provider or a local pharmacy
to get that booster shot.
Got it, you know, let's talk about those.
Actually, I've got three questions for you.
They're all related, and one of them is,
I guess, more of a yes or no.
Remind me, is there a like a panel
of health experts in the state that
advised our governor other like
local politicians about instituting
those types of mask mandates?
Are you part of that?
If there is one,
so there's no official?
Policy government like that?
I mean, they come from
recommendations from the main CDC.
I will say that a group of physician
leaders across the state do get
together on a regular basis and we do
discuss what trends are happening on
and make make at least the comments
or or but not true recommendations.
It really is just to make sure
that we're all on the same page
and that we're doing the best
we can for our communities.
And so yes, I am a part of one
of those groups that does that,
and it's important that that people know
that our physician leaders across the
state do get together on a regular basis.
With the state to discuss
those kind of issues.
Got you? I mean, in that case you
know as part of those discussions
have have have talked about,
you know requiring masks in
indoor public places come, fall.
Has that been on the table yet or
is that just too far? We continue
to advise that we follow the
federal CDC's guidelines for both
transmissibility and Community risk.
And so I think those are still
very good guidelines for
people to follow and monitor.
And I think, you know,
that's probably what we will stick with,
at least for the foreseeable future.
You talked a second. Know about boosters,
there's been a lot of discussion at the
national level about sort of tweaking
the formula behind these boosters to
make them very targeted towards the
Omicron variant and its sub variants.
Any clarity or insight that you can provide
about maybe people under the age of 50,
right who haven't been given that
recommendation from the federal CDC yet
to get a second booster. Any insight?
We expect that to be coming soon.
Do we know?
Is the formula going to be tweaked
to kind of fit that or or?
Protect against these variants in some areas.
Yeah, so both the FDA and the
CDC have advisory committees
that that have started to make.
They haven't made that recommendation
as a full recommendation,
but they are certainly providing
the guidance that that's what they
would expect that we would need,
and with that manufacturers of
vaccines are already working on
targeted vaccines specifically
towards the Omicron variants,
because right now all of the things
that we're seeing that are causing
significant spread are variants
or sub variants of the Omer.
Non variant and so,
so that's probably where we'll see that.
I expect that to be the next
booster that we talk about will
be a targeted omicron,
or at least contain a
targeted Omicron component.
You know, I I I wanted to ask you and I
guess I'll come back to the to the other
booster question but late yesterday,
and actually I apologize that I
didn't get to prep you on this,
but it was yesterday afternoon
the FDA had had added an emergency
youth use authorization for Novavax
of 1/4 option of vaccine.
A lot of people out there have
been talking about Novavax as.
A different option for people, right?
People who didn't want to take an
M RNA or the viral vector vaccine.
Can you just help me understand one?
What makes Novavax different and two,
do you hope that that there will
be people who will get that first
shot of theirs?
Because this is now available,
so we still have to wait on the
Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices to weigh in on who is who.
Who should we be offering
that particular vaccine to?
It was not approved for booster shots.
Authorized for booster shots,
it was only authorized for a
primary vaccine series, but yeah,
I am hopeful there will be some people
out there who who for whatever reason
did not feel comfortable with either
an M RNA or a viral vector product
and therefore we're awaiting having
this particular product out there.
What makes this one different is
that this is like many traditional
vaccines that basically it
contains viral particles that then
stimulate your immune system and.
And uh, with that, you know,
makes it a little bit different.
So it's similar to to many of the childhood
vaccines that we that we administer
that are the ones that are not live,
vaccines and similar to most of
the influenza vaccines as well.
So the things that people get for a flu shot,
all of those are are particulate matter
that stimulate our immune system
different than the way that messenger
RNA or the viral vector vaccines work.
And and and I know that there had been I.
I remember asking you these
questions about people being
concerned about the the the new
technology behind an M RNA vaccine.
Do you think that this will you
would set a second ago?
You're hopeful you mean,
do you think they're who will say
I see this as a more traditional vaccine?
I'm willing to take it.
Yeah, I'm hopeful for that
to be the for to be the case.
But Novavax has been approved in Europe
for a while now and unfortunately
they did not see a considerable
uptake in individuals to get that.
And if we remember now,
you know we have literally.
Billions of individuals on this planet who
have been vaccinated with mRNA vaccines,
so we know how safe they are.
We know how effective they are and
again they are readily available.
The Novavax vaccine you know at best only
be available towards the end of the month,
and that's the best case scenario.
And so you know it remains to be
seen for those though that you
know specifically are are waiting
for something like that.
You know,
I think that it would be a good choice
and an option for them as well.
And. As we talk about the
potential for a second booster
for people under the age of 50,
and I think they they were
kind of targeting right?
What 18 plus to to 50s?
Probably looking at
probably is the next stage
so you know anecdotally and just kind
of through comments on social media,
you know one things,
one theme that I see popping up over
and over again is people hesitant to
take booster after booster after booster.
Do you think that this second
booster would be?
Is this going to turn into
just generally speaking,
as a as a booster shot this
thing we're going to need to get
every couple of years similar to
other vaccines like flu shots,
yeah, and and and and again,
very typical of respiratory.
Type viruses, the immunity that a
human being has a lessens over time,
which is why all along we have said
infection is not going to be your
protection from future cases of
coronavirus people get reinfected
with coronaviruses that cause common
colds over and over and over again.
So we anticipated the same thing would
happen with the one that causes COVID-19,
and we've seen that play out.
The problem with specifically the
virus that causes COVID-19 is that
it mutates at a rate much faster than
we've seen with other coronaviruses
in a way that makes it so it
becomes more and more transmissible.
So, yes, just like influenza,
which again changes from season to season,
we're going to be seeing the same thing
with coronavirus and talking about it.
Now, I'm hopeful that at some
point we get to a point where we're
talking about an annual, you know,
kind of booster shot for us,
or maybe something that even
lasts longer than one year.
Rather than every six months talking
about needing to get a booster,
but right now with the way
these mutations are going,
you know science has to catch
up to the mutation,
and often that means you know that
the the virus actually is faster
than we are at developing things
you know and and I will ask you this
question because I haven't because
a lot has changed since I since.
I think I asked it to you last.
It's probably more of a question for DHS,
but do you expect or have you advised
anybody at the state that that this is?
Should be a a recommended vaccine for
kids attending like public schools.
I know a lot of colleges you know
whether it's you know state colleges or
community colleges are requiring people
to be up to date on their on their shots.
Yeah, so that's a matter of
policy and not certainly.
Certainly something that
I that I can speak about.
But I can certainly say as as
a physician who has children.
I strongly recommend that that
all everybody that's eligible
for a vaccine get vaccinated.
It is still our best foot forward.
For lessening the spread in our
communities and protecting everybody,
particularly those most vulnerable.
And then I, you know,
I just pulled up the the CDC map here.
This is kind of my last question for you
and I just wanted to check these numbers.
Did I usually get to check them?
Every day I've kind of calmed,
calmed down on my graphs to doing them
like once a week because the you know,
we've really seen things kind of taper off.
So when I look at the US CDC numbers.
92.2% of people in Maine
have at least one dose.
When we look at people who are
considered and it's just the
way it's written on the chart.
Fully vaccinated,
right two shots or one shot of JJ 80.6.
First booster doses were at 57.6.
I mean, when you look at these numbers right,
you know 9280, you know.
And then as far as first boosters
more than half.
What's your reaction to those numbers?
Could I know for a long time we
were talking about herd immunity
numbers around the 80% and because
of these variants really had to
be driven up into like the 90s.
So what's your reaction to those numbers?
So first I mean again, you know,
Maine has has been in the top,
you know four or five or
even higher for vaccination.
It's in every single category
from the from the beginning on,
so we should all be very,
very proud of that.
We also look at mortality rates and in
the state of Maine despite being the
oldest per capita state in the nation.
We have, if not the lowest mortality
rate one of the lowest mortality rates.
And that's because Mainers did the
things that they were supposed to do,
and they think more community minded
than I think.
Unfortunately,
some of our our friends and other
states do we think about the people
who are most vulnerable to disease?
Including our neighbors and our
and ourselves who are older just
because of our population and and
because we took those that that that
caring kind of approach to things
certainly has made it so that we have
saved more lives at the same time.
We also know that coronavirus
continues to be a significant cause
of death in our state and that should
be the reminder to us that we need
to continue to follow the follow
the guidance that the CDC gives us.
If it does say wear masks indoors,
we should be doing that.
And again,
I'd like to see that vaccination rate.
Even higher,
particularly amongst the boosted population,
because that will just further
protect all of us from this disease.
You you've answered all of my questions.
Doctor Jarvis. Is there anything
that we haven't touched on that
you feel like is a point we need to
hammer home for people at this time?
Just very briefly, that if you do
become infected with coronavirus,
if you do have a positive test and
you are in a high risk category,
meaning age over 50 or having
some kind of underlying medical
condition or immunocompromised,
please reach out because we have
tremendous efforts now that of
treatments that we can do to further
protect you from being hospitalized
or dying from this disease.
And so I just want to encourage people
that test positive that they should
be reaching out to their provider,
and in fact have a plan for if you test
positive how you're going to get that out,
because it is a very time limited situation
for the treatment but packed slovic,
the oral medication works very,
very well and is incredibly efficient at
keeping you from from going to the hospital.
You know what? Sorry you made me.
Think of it, sorry,
but but now physicians write
can can can offer Pax Lovett
is it through prescription?
Like would I just go to my local?
CVS or Walgreens or whatever.
And say, hey I, I tested positive
and I need packed loved.
How does that process work?
So current currently pack Slovin
needs to be prescribed by a provider.
There is some changes from the federal
guidance that will allow pharmacists to do
prescriptions under certain circumstances.
But yeah, it is a prescription medication
so you would contact your provider.
Have that discussion with your provider.
They would make sure that it that it's
a that it would be appropriate and safe
for you to have that medication and then
they send the send it off to your pharmacy
where you pick it up at the pharmacy.
Currently we have adequate
supplies to pack Slovik.
And it packs slovik's,
not the appropriate drug.
We have other things that
we can we can offer as well.
You're a rock star.
Thanks for doing this.
I really appreciate it, Karen.
Is there anything that we left out
that you think we need to touch on?
Uh, let's see? Uh, no.
I think I love that last piece right there.
Is there? Do you have any idea when
this should air tonight tonight, OK?
4:36 PM the whole.
To give you a better idea,
let me just check, OK, yeah,
you can let me know later that's fine.
Yeah, you want me to send
you by e-mail Karen please add to my
bio that Chris Costa says I am a rock
star so I will be right up at the top.
Let's see, I have here
I don't have it yet, but we're going
to do our our producers meeting
here in a little bit to kind of
divvy up the content of the day,
but as soon as I know, I'll let you
know, OK, good to see you, Chris.
Have a great day, always good
talking to you. Thanks, Karen.
Thank you both for your time.