Mcguire hosts digital town hall
Event focuses on Delta variant
CALIFORNIA » State Senator Mike Mcguire (D-healdsburg) hosted a town hall live streamed on Wednesday updating residents on the Golden State’s coronavirus response and the Delta variant’s impact. The Town Hall focused on the latest surge and what to expect in the weeks to come, when students return to schools.
The Senator had two doctors as guests to answer the community’s questions — the infectious disease physician at UCLA’S Fielding School of Public Health and Geffen School of Medicine, Timothy Brewer; pediatrician and assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Jose Morales from Kaiser Permanente.
“As you know, there has been an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases across the nation and right here at home, in California. This uptick is a consequence of the Delta variant. That’s why we wanted to be back together, as we’ve done over 15 times dur
“The Delta variant is much more contagious, and there is evidence that is showing it’s hitting our patients harder.” — Jose Morales from Kaiser Permanente
ing this pandemic, to have this important community conversation. Now, Delta is the predominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, causing more infections, more quickly than any other of the previous strains of the virus, and the number of Californians hospitalized with a confirmed case of the coronavirus has increased by 64%”, said Mcguire, claiming this latest surge is completely avoidable. “It’s a surge among mostly the unvaccinated. The best way out of this pandemic — and I know some may not agree with me — is by getting the shot. Vaccines are safe. They’re abundant, you’re in a Golden state, and they’re always going to be free. It’s the single most important thing that you can do to protect yourself, your family, your community; and to keep our healthcare systems running smoothly,” he added.
Brewer noted that there are currently from 500 to 550 deaths a day from COVID-19 across the country. “About 50% of the US population has been fully vaccinated so far, and we really need to get that closer to 80 to 90%. Here in California we’re averaging about 14,300 new cases a day, and our case rates are about 13 times higher than what they were at the beginning of June. We’ve got about 64.7% of our population fully vaccinated,” he stated, the addressing concerns over vaccine efficacy.
“Some people have been wondering about breakthrough infections. We always knew that the vaccines were not 100% effective. The ability of the vaccines to prevent infection does decline over time, dropping from about 92% down to about 80% over a six month period, but still very good at preventing, in fact, hospitalization and death. The way to stop variants from emerging is to stop transmission. The best way to do that is to get as many people vaccinated, not only in the United States, but also around the world. We have to remember we’re in a global pandemic. We’re in this together, and we’ve got to figure out how to stop it for everybody.”
Morales recalled this past year he has been seeing so many children with depression and anxiety, (who are) feeling lost because of the lack of structure in their life. “The Delta variant is much more contagious, and there is evidence that is showing it’s hitting our patients harder. What I’m seeing locally in the hospital is patients that are admitted have not gotten the vaccine. When you get the vaccine, you’re protecting yourself from getting critically ill, going into the hospital, and possibly death. Those over 12 years old that are eligible have no reason why they shouldn’t get vaccinated. Many families are choosing to vaccinate themselves and their kids,” he said.
Vaccinated mothers build antibodies and protection that will also protect the unborn baby
According the pediatrician, if an expecting mother “feels great, has no symptoms, the baby is going to be fine. That protection for the baby will last through the delivery, at least a few months, as the cord is cut, and she’s breastfeeding, it will continue.” For pregnant women, “getting the vaccine is a great way to go”.
The infectious disease physician agreed: “They are at increased risk for serious disease and pre early delivery before 37 weeks if they become infected with COVID-19, and I have taken care of some who have had to be on mechanical ventilators because of the virus. It’s critically important if you’re pregnant to get vaccinated. It will protect you and your unborn child.”