Free Vaccines, Free Testing Are Things Of The Past

By Daniella Masterson

It’s an invisible part of a summer surge. Just when you thought you could take your mask off and exhale because the pandemic is over, COVID-19 cases are rising with a new strain. And medical professionals are concerned that COVID fatigue may hinder people from getting the new booster shot.

“This uptick comes as the public health emergency has ended, taking with it free testing and free vaccines,” said Sandy Close, Director of Ethnic Media Services. “COVID fatigue has set in. And a study has determined that most Americans will forego new boosters which will be available this fall,” added Close.

The Ethnic Media Services recently held a panel discussion with three eminent speakers to examine the new COVID-19 variant, the rise in cases, and the new booster vaccine that will be available this fall around September.  The purpose of the panel was to provide outreach to communities of color about the importance of getting the new COVID vaccine.

The speakers included:  Dr. Peter Chin Hung, Associate Dean for Regional Campuses, University of California, San Francisco, and medical educator specializing in treating infectious diseases; Dr. Benjamin Newman, Chief Virologist at the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University; and  Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

The current uptick in COVID-19 cases is fueled by a new variant of the former virus called EG.5.  Close said the EG.5 strain has caused hospitalization rates to increase by 12.5% nationwide in July, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Because the virus mutates so often, it has been a challenge to create an effective vaccine.

“EG 5 is one of the variants that’s spreading the fastest right now,” said Dr. Newman.  “And EG 5 is a child of a thing called XBB 1.9. That’s a child of XPB 1.5 … These are just a lot of numbers and letters. Basically, it’s another version of Omicron,” said Newman, adding that the virus averages about 30 mutations a year.

Fortunately, the variant hasn’t produced any distinct symptoms although there were cases of patients developing pink eye in other countries.  But with that said, COVID reportedly has had a variety of symptoms, and doctors concede that more research is required since their knowledge of viruses is relatively new.

“The only predictable thing is that the more recent your immunity (prevention), the more recent your vaccination, the less likely you are to have serious symptoms,” said Dr. Newman.

While hospitalization rates are not the tsunami they were during the height of the pandemic, the summer months have produced quite a wave of cases.  This time last year there were 4,700 people hospitalized in California due to COVID.  This year, the number of people hospitalized in July was 750 and increased to 890 in August. But there is a slight uptick in other countries as well. Dr. Hung highlighted not only is America experiencing an uptick, but other countries are also.  One of the main reasons for the uptick is big summer indoor events and concerts.

“There are big concerts like Taylor Swift bringing a lot of people together,” said Dr. Hung.  “The second reason, of course, is that unprecedented heat wave has driven a lot of people indoors.  So, it’s kind of like winter almost, even though it’s the summer. The third reason…is people’s immunity is kind of weaning from the last time a lot of people got infected which was last winter.

“But we are still seeing some sick people, and we are still seeing about 300 or 400 deaths per week in the United States; not 2,000 a day like we used to,” said Dr. Hung.

While herd immunity has helped, people are still losing the battle with COVID.  Dr. Hung said people should seek medical treatment right away to improve their chances of survival.

The FDA will roll out an approved antiviral vaccine that promises to pack a powerful punch against the new variant.  In the meantime,  Remdesivir and Paxlovid are current vaccines that may still be free.

But there will be a fee for testing and for the new vaccine this fall.  That may pose a challenge for senior citizens and people of color who are under-resourced.

“I do worry, particularly, that testing is linked to access to early therapy,” said Dr. Hung.

“Because testing has a premium and price associated with it, that will leave a lot of people behind. Who’s going to go and pay $25 for tests at Walgreens? If you have some sniffles, it might be allergies or it might be COVID.“