COVID-19 is still here, of course, but many accept it as part of life and are not taking precautions such as wearing masks, social distancing or being up to date with their booster shots. But Susan Kansagra, director of the North Carolina Division of Public Health, says people should still take booster shots and do what they can to prevent getting COVID-19, even if they’ve grown weary of it. She joined WFAE's Gwendolyn Glenn to discuss what people need to know about COVID-19 prevention as we head into the winter months.
Dr. Susan Kansagra: We have gone through a lot over the last several years and people paid a lot of attention to it early on. I know now it's getting, you know, a little bit more tiresome. Some people are fatigued, people are tired of hearing about it, but it's still really important. It's still here. And that's why we want to really, again, remind folks of the tools that we have and especially going into the winter, where we are expecting COVID-19 to go back up.
Gwendolyn Glenn: And where does the state stand now? Where are the numbers, currently, in terms of daily cases, in terms of deaths?
Kansagra: The previous week, we had over 9,600 cases reported in the state. Last week, we had 7,200 cases reported. So, we've seen a decline. And again, that doesn't represent every case in the state because we know there is certainly a lot of at-home testing going on. That is what we get through a very specific laboratory reporting mechanism that gives us an overall sense of what's going on. But there are many more cases out there.
Glenn: And what about hospitalizations and deaths? The numbers there — are they going up or down?
Kansagra: Yeah. There we are also seeing a decline over recent weeks and hospitalizations. And so, for example, last week we had 751 hospitalizations for COVID-19. That's down to 655 this week. Deaths, over the last several weeks, we've seen anywhere between 70 to 100 deaths per week, still from COVID-19. So that still, obviously, while it's lower than what we've seen, still a significant number and tragic, especially because we know we have the tools to prevent severe hospitalization and death now, especially with our vaccines.
Glenn: In terms of boosters, are people getting boosters at this point, and how much of a supply does the state have of the new booster, in terms that have some protection against BA.4 and BA.5? I take it they still are the most prevalent variants of the virus that are out there now.
Kansagra: Yes. So, we are seeing people get the booster. We've seen over 700,000 people so far in North Carolina have gotten their updated booster. We're seeing that tick up every day. And again, you know, really important as we head into the season and we have plenty of supply available that's available to us to draw down from the federal government as needed. Supply is not an issue. So again, we encourage anybody that hasn't gotten their booster to look at the hundreds of locations online where you can get a booster and get that updated protection today.
Glenn: Who can get a booster? Can anyone or is it for people 65 and older or people with underlying conditions? Who can get it?
Kansagra: So the updated booster is available to anyone five years and older who has had their primary vaccination series. So, if you've completed that initial two-dose series for most people, you can go on to get a booster dose if you're five years and older. And the recommended timeline for that is about two months after your last vaccine.
Glenn: Why is it that if someone has not gotten any vaccines or someone may have only gotten that one booster or maybe no boosters, but got the vaccine, can't get this new one that has that extra protection?
Kansagra: Well, if you haven't gotten your vaccine at all, that is the first thing that you need to be able to prime your system. And then the booster is additional priming. Again, you have to wait several months until you can get that updated booster. But starting with that primary series is important.
Glenn: And for someone who has had COVID-19, how long do they have to wait before they can get that booster?
Kansagra: You should at least wait till your isolation period is over, which is five days, and then you can choose to get your booster. You also can choose to wait and delay for up to 90 days. And the reason for that is that once you've had COVID-19, that has given your body a chance to ramp up its natural immunity as well. And so that can carry you forward for a little bit of time.
Glenn: How much time?
Kansagra: About three months. If you'd like to wait, you could wait a little bit longer before you got your booster if you just recently had COVID-19.
Glenn: What about flu shots? If someone has had COVID-19, should they — how long should they wait before getting a flu shot or do they have to wait at all?
Kansagra: Yeah, that's a great question. You don't have to wait. You can actually get your flu shot and you can also get your flu shot at the same time as you get your updated COVID-19 booster. It's, you know, something that you can do at the same time. And I know that's convenient for a lot of people to get it done at the same time. And so that's an option as well.
Glenn: And are you — do you think the number of people who've gotten boosted, you said, 700,000 people, that doesn't seem like a lot in a state that has over 10 million people.
Glenn: With the newly updated booster that was just released and is steadily going up. So we know more people are getting vaccinated every day. And that's really where we want to encourage as many people as possible — get their updated protection.
