We've made a lot of good progress in
the fight against COVID-19 recently.
Things have gotten so good people are
suggesting we're moving now to an endemic.
What exactly does that mean for you to
answer that and more questions about
getting to the other side of the pandemic?
We have doctor J Wyatt,
the Chief medical officer at Moses Cone
Hospital with us until 6:00 o'clock tonight.
To start, we're going to start
by kind of talking about the
whole pandemic endemic thing.
So what is the difference?
When people say pandemic versus endemic.
Thank you for having me Tonya and
Lifesafer soft that on March 11th of
2020 the World Health Organization
declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Since that time we have been in
a pandemic and we still are.
What will keep us in a pandemic or high
rates of the disease throughout the world?
And specially in certain areas?
We get to an endemic state when
the rates are low and manageable,
and have remained that way
for a period of time.
We're not near that point right now.
There's still even though
we have come down a lot.
There's still a lot of
disease still out there.
We are definitely making strides,
and it seems like we're
starting to get out of it.
It will be so nice once
we actually do get there.
How would living in an endemic state of
COVID be different from the past two years?
Would we still need masks?
But we still need vaccines.
I think the only way to get to that
endemic state is to continue to try to
get as many vaccinations as possible.
Masking will probably not
necessary in endemic state,
although for an endemic disease such
as the the flu we saw over the years of
when we were masking because of COVID
that it did help with the flu also.
So although it won't be mandatory
or required, it can still help
in certain situations.
Alright, so if we're not in
endemic right now, what steps do
we need to take to get there?
And is some of it just time
and it running its course?
Time is certainly a part of it,
but the more that we can do to
boost vaccinations, the faster
we can get to an endemic state.
Alright, so let's talk about this.
Could the virus return to a pandemic level
once we actually get to an endemic level?
Does it make that kind of turn around?
Or once it gets to endemic, are we done?
Well, that sort of depends on the virus.
Unfortunately, as you probably remember,
starting with the original
coronavirus infection,
we went through a surge and then it
came down and then we had the delta
variant which went up and came down,
and then we had omicron,
so it really somewhat depends on whether
or not there's another variant out there
that can cause us to bump up again,
and certainly if we have one that
is very transmissible and the
vaccination rate hasn't gone up.
Or if it turns into a variant that
is somewhat resistant to the vaccine,
then we could see another surge.
OK, let's talk about where we are right now.
I know that you know a lot of people are
doing without the masks and that kind
of stuff is happening in our community.
Cases still remain high in
unvaccinated folks. People see
breakthrough cases and they question.
Should I even get vaccinated?
What do you say to those folks today?
I say that it still can
be a very deadly disease,
and if you have the opportunity to
mitigate against these symptoms
and the the problems associated
with getting active COVID infection
without being vaccinated,
you should take advantage of that.
Even though you can still get the disease,
the chances of your having to
be hospitalized or have severe
disease is significantly degrees.
Alright, so folks who are right,
maybe past the point.
Maybe they already got the vaccine,
but they're like alright.
Things are getting so much better.
I don't need to get the booster.
What about the people that that way?
Who are thinking that way?
They don't need what I'm
sorry to hear. They don't
need the booster.
They've maybe got vaccinated,
but they're thinking, oh,
things are getting so much better.
I just probably don't need the booster.
I believe that any augmentation of your
immune system can be an advantage,
and certainly a booster offer set,
so I would encourage people
who've had their two.
Or maybe they want to go ahead and get
a booster because it only can help you.
It won't hurt you.
OK, let's talk about the status.
The vaccine for kids kids
under the age of five.
How can we protect as parents
their kids in the meantime?
And what do we think is going
to happen with a possible
vaccine for kids under 5?
So bad scenes are all about risk versus
reward, and right now they have not
been able to necessarily find that
balance of where the the reward is great
enough for kids on less than five.
So until then, until we get to the
point where we know it's going to be
safe and offers the same advantages,
masking hand washing, social distancing,
all the things we were doing
before can be utilized.
But under the current environment where
kids are starting to go back to school.
Making sure that outbreaks are handled in
the proper way and people are quarantined
when they do become symptomatic.
So Doctor Wyatt is going to be back
with us for two more segments,
and this is again your chance
to ask him your questions
about the state of COVID and
things that are going on.
We want you to be able to get
your answer in real time,
so this is what you need to do.
You need to text him your questions
336-379-5775. You can text them.
Right now we're going to be
back in just a few moments.