The FDA authorized the new version of the covid vaccine

Which prompted my parents to ask me whether they should get their annual covid vaccine now

My response? I'd wait until late October

So here's my thinking

First, I think the summer COVID wave has largely peaked (some regions may still rise for another week or two)

So getting a vaccine in the upcoming weeks (when vaccines will become available in your pharmacy) is probably not optimal

Instead, I told them that they should get their covid and flu vaccine together in late October, ideally by Halloween

That sets them up to be optimally protected for the winter -- where we get both flu and usually a bigger winter covid wave (along with RSV and other respiratory infections)

If you got a vaccine now, you would get some benefit in the upcoming couple of months

But would be more vulnerable if the winter wave arrives in December or January

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that -higher risk folks (older people, chronically ill and immunocompromised folks) get vaccinated

So if you want to get it now, its fine

But to me, late October is probably a better time -- and I would get both covid and flu shots then By the way, if you're wondering why I think the summer wave has largely peaked, here's the key data

first -- waste water

It looks like the waste water levels have peaked nationally, as well midwest and south with a plateau in the West and Northeast

I'm hearing a lot of people say we are in the middle of a new covid wave

So a little data might be useful

Almost no one is testing anymore so case numbers are useless

wastewater is the only reliable source of data for community infection levels

And what does wastewater tell us?

Well sure enough, community infection levels are up about 50% over the past 2 months

BUT

A little perspective is helpful

🧵 Overall, infection levels in the community are still quite low

Certainly compared to historical average

Here's the wastewater data over the past 2 year

The recent blip up is still low

But two more points worth knowing

2/n

OK -- so CDC has come out with new guidance saying if you have COVID

Isolate while you have a fever but...

you can stop isolating once your fever is better and symptoms are resolving

Seems right to me

What you ask? Has the science changed? Why do this now?

Good questions

🧵

https://twitter.com/CDCgov/status/1763650382595494223

So first question: has the science changed?

No -- data on infection and spread remains the same

Most of the spread happens when people are pre-symptomatic (before symptoms) or when they have symptoms. Less after symptoms resolve

So what's changed? Population immunity

2/n

What happens to patient care when private equity firms take over hospitals?

Well, there's new data out and its not great news for all you fans of private equity in healthcare

Here's the write-up in the @nytimes by @sangerkatz and @ReedAbelson

Short 🧵

nytimes.com/2023/12/26/ups… Researchers looked at 51 private-equity (PE) acquired hospitals

And compared them to matched hospitals not acquired by PE

They found patients at PE hospitals experienced 25% higher rates of complications compared to controls

Here's the original paper

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

How should we be thinking about COVID at this moment?

Last week, I had an op-ed in @BostonGlobe to lay out what I think is a pretty reasonable way to think about it

But first, here's the state of COVID

Thread

bostonglobe.com/2023/07/31/opi… Infections are rising in every part of the US based on wastewater data

This is exactly what many of us expected this summer

How bad is it?

Well, its up about 3X from lows of mid-June

But still only a third of last summer's peak

So its up. But not a lot.

So what to do?

So, as they say…

Some news

For all the progress we’ve made in this pandemic (and there is a lot)

We still have important work to do to protect Americans’ lives and well being

So when @POTUS asked me to serve, I was honored to have the opportunity

nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/… This President has spoken the truth about this virus

Has prioritized policies based on science and evidence

Americans are going back to work and school

And it is an honor to work under his leadership

One focused on the health and well-being of the American people

With infections down more than 90% since highs just 6 weeks ago

It is tempting to decide the pandemic is over

It is not

During this upcoming lull of infections (and falling deaths),

It's time to prepare for whatever is next

So what to prepare for -- and how?

Thread The two questions I get asked most often these days are:

1. Will we see future variant

Answer: I don't know. No one does. Reasonable to assume we will. Let's hope we don't

2. Will we see future surges

Answer: most likely yes. Hope not

But remember: hope isn't a strategy

2/n

For two months, I've said we're entering a new phase of the pandemic

A phase marked by a lot of population immunity, a more immune-evasive but less virulent virus

This new phase requires new metrics

My @nytopinion piece on the latest CDC metrics

nytimes.com/2022/02/25/opi… Fundamentally, new CDC metrics get it right

Why?

Because cases no longer are the most important measure

For nearly 2 years, for every 1000 cases, you could reliably predict 50-80 would end up in the hospital and about 15 to 20 people would die

That was true in 2020. And 2021

Nationally as infections return to pre-Omicron surge levels,

Two states I've tracked closely are California & Florida

They're both large with diverse populations, similar seasonality, different COVID approaches

So what can we learn from comparing them?

A few things

Thread First, let's compare how they did on infections during Omicron surge

Strikingly similar (see graph)

Florida peaked earlier, California a bit later

Cumulatively, they had nearly identical infection rates

About 9.50% of Floridians got infected while 9.54% of Californians did

As the Omicron surge of infections abates,

Its worth reflecting on few lessons we learned

Today, lets' discuss whether Omicron was indeed "milder"

Short answer? Yes it was

But it still caused a devastating loss of life

And that's a lesson for managing future waves

Thread First, let's talk about how we might assess whether Omicron was "milder" than Delta

One way is to look at case fatality rate

Remember CFR is proportion of identified cases that end up dying

Throughout the pandemic, the CFR of of COVID in the US has been between 1.5% to 2.0%

Let's discuss a path forward for masks in schools

I've been a strong proponent of masking in schools

So as we enter a new phase

Do we need to keep masking for the foreseeable future

I don't think so

Should we ban masks in schools today?

No

Let's find a middle path

Thread First, let's talk evidence

Do masks work to reduce transmission?

Absolutely

What about in kids?

The evidence is less strong but clearly, the weight of evidence says that masking also works in kids

Are there harms?

Not much evidence either way but there could be

2/n

Quick update on the state of the pandemic in the US

Nationally,

Infections are down 60%

Hospitalizations down about 30%

Deaths have largely plateaued at a very high 2500+ per day

Beneath the headlines, we see dropping infections in every part of the country Here are the four largest states

Geographically, politically diverse with very different strategies and mitigation policies

Infections are down 50-80% across these states

And hospitalizations have turned the corner in each of these states

Deaths are starting to follow

I've been saying for weeks that as cases recede

We can soon relax public health restrictions

I think of this like the weather

When it is bucketing rain

Umbrella, rain coat, boots, are all essential

When the storm turns into a drizzle, those become less critical

Thread A big spike (like Omicron surge) is like a major storm

If you don't want to get wet, you need to stay home

But if you venture out

Bring a big umbrella (vaccines)
Wear a raincoat (good masks)
And rainboots (avoid crowded indoor spaces)

You get the idea

2/n

You all know the data demonstrating dramatically higher hospitalization rates for unvaccinated folks

But one key point often not discussed?

Around 60%-70% of unvaccinated adults have already been previously infected

Which tells us a lot about infection-induced immunity

Thread We see large gaps in hospitalizations between vaccinated and unvaccinated

But unvaccinated are not immunologically naïve

At this point, probably 2/3 have been previously infected

And yet, we still see 50X differences in hospitalizations between vaccinated and unvaccinated

2/7

We're in a transition moment in this pandemic

We're coming off highs of the worst surge of infections we've ever had

Cases are high but starting to fall in much of the nation

This moment raises lots of questions

With one big one: What happens next?

Thread As Yogi Berra once said,

It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future

So we should be circumspect about how much we can predict with certainty

But some things seem pretty reasonable to assume

First, infections are likely to decline in upcoming weeks

2/n

Getting asked when will Omicron peak in the US?

My best guess?

I think we are there

We are seeing a little bumpiness in the data because of MLK day holiday

But evidence says as a nation, we have likely peaked

Big states: CA, FL, and NY have peaked. May be even Texas

Thread Beyond peak, there are two surprises worth discussing

First, I said few days ago that I expected hospitalizations to rise a while longer

Turns out, not so much

Hospitalizations have flattened nationally and are declining in places like NY

Why? What did I get wrong?

2/4

Quick update on the pandemic in US

We're averaging about 800K identified cases daily

Likely missing 75% - 80% of infections

If you do the math

At least 1 in 100 Americans getting infected every day

Everyone wants to know: when do we peak?

Here's the national picture

Thread The national picture shows a slowing of the surge

But we're still rising

But if we dig a bit deeper, a few things emerge

First, let's start with the big 4

CA, TX, FL, NY

Why? Lots of people live there, geographically and politically diverse

What do we see?

a few things

Given the immense value of in person schooling for America's kids,

Lets talk about how every school can be in person safely today

Not under ideal conditions

But under real-world conditions

First, let's start with "ideal", which LOTS of school districts have done

Thread What is ideal?

1. Teachers vaxxed/boosted
2. Kids vaxxed
3. Everyone masked w/good masks
4. Ventilation
5. Testing

Billions of $ available for ventilation and testing
Vaccines free, widely available

I get it, some places chose not to do it

But $ is not the barrier

2/n

Watching national data

And being in the hospital this week

I see two things that appear contradictory

But both are true

1. Link between cases & hospitalizations is much weaker with Omicron than in the past

2. Our healthcare system is in trouble

Thread: the moment we are in Let's talk about I'm seeing in the hospital first

In the hospital, seeing lots of COVID patients

Some admitted due to COVID

They are all either:

1. Unvaccinated

2. Very high risk folks not boosted

And some admitted "with" COVID as incidental

Almost all not boosted

2/n

Day 2 of hospital service

A few observations about the whole "hospitalized for COVID" versus "hospitalized with COVID"

This distinction matters

But may be not in the way people think

First, we have a few patients in the hospital for COVID

But not many, thank goodness

Thread Not many because RI is highly vaccinated state

More common on our service is folks admitted with COVID

That is, they came to hospital for something else and found to have COVID

Its tempting to say that COVID here incidental and therefore, doesn't matter

Not quite right

2/n

We know how to keep people safe in schools during COVID

For an airborne virus

Masking and ventilation/filtration substantially slow spread

As does regular testing

And vaccines protect from bad outcomes

So I've been puzzling over why this isn't happening everywhere

Thread If key strategies include masking, ventilation, testing, vaccines

Masks became widely available late 2020

By early 2021, there was lots of $ from Feds for improving vent/filtration as well as testing

By fall 2021, every adult & school-aged kid was eligible for vaccines

2/n