You sometimes hear people referring to the summer of 2022 as “post pandemic.” Few people are wearing masks indoors or even on airplanes in the U.S despite the fact that the most recent variants of Covid-19 are the most contagious yet—possibly nearly as contagious as the most contagious viruses ever known (such as measles) – and are causing widespread infections, including among fully vaccinated and boosted people.
“A lot of people are acting as if we are not in the pandemic, and we still are,” according to Dr. Bob Hopkins, professor of internal medicine and pediatrics, and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “We are seeing a surge of the BA.4 and BA.5 coronavirus variants. Know that they are very, very contagious, much more contagious than the delta variant and a couple orders of magnitude more contagious than the original coronavirus we dealt with in 2019 and 2020. We are seeing a lot of infections because there is very little protective behavior. It is rare to see someone in a mask in the grocery store or on the streets of our towns.”
Hopkins said people have the most protection from vaccinations between two weeks and three months after immunization.
“You can still get infected, but vaccination dramatically decreases people’s chances of being hospitalized or dying,” Hopkins said in a telephone interview. “Previous infection provides some degree of protection, but it is less predictable how long that immunity will last. Boosters do reduce the severity of infection and reduce the risk of infection, but our booster rates in Arkansas are even lower than the rate of primary vaccinations.”
Hopkins strongly encourages multiple layers of protection through this summer surge. Active cases in Arkansas reached 15,125 by July 11, an increase of about 3,000 from the previous week, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. ADH shows active cases in Carroll County increased from 86 to 118 in the past week.
Hopkins urges anyone going outside of the home, and particularly in an indoor setting, to wear masks. “If others around you are wearing a mask, that is more protection,” he said. “Being vaccinated and boosted is another layer of protection. The more layers you put between yourself and this virus, the less likely you are to get this disease.”
Air travel in the U.S. has reached pre-pandemic levels, and mask requirements have been removed. Mask requirements have also been removed on cruise ships.
He also said a lot of people have put blinders on. In addition to not wearing masks or social distancing, when they get sick, they often don’t test and don’t take precautions against infecting others.
“It is so common for me to hear, ‘This sniffle I have is just allergies,’” Hopkins said. “Why take a chance? If people are sick, they should stay home, test, and contact their healthcare provider, particularly if they test positive, to get instructions about what to do to take care of themselves.
“Just because someone has had a mild infection before doesn’t mean the next infection will be mild. Why take any chance if you are able to prevent it? The odds stack up against you each time you get a Covid infection.”
Some locals have reported false negatives with the free iHealth Antigen Rapid Test. They tested negative on the home test, kept having symptoms and then tested positive at the Eureka Springs Hospital. Dr. Atul Kothari, medical director for outbreak response, at the Arkansas Department of Health, wrote in an email that antigen tests have at least an 80 percent sensitivity.
Kothari referred to information from an FDA website that states “the presence of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a patient sample can potentially impact test performance. The impact of mutations on a test’s performance is influenced by several factors, including the sequence of the variant, the design of the test, and the prevalence of the variant in the population.”
Dr. Amy Mathers, associate professor of medicine and pathology and associate director of clinical microbiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, said on the Today Show that exposure to extreme hot or cold temperatures may affect the accuracy of home Covid-19 rapid tests.
Some local residents are reporting good results from taking the antiviral medicine Paxlovid within five days of coming down with Covid. Kothari wrote that the FDA has authorized the emergency use of Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and children (12 years and older weighing at least 88 pounds) with a positive test for the virus that causes Covid-19, and who are at high risk for progression to severe Covid-19.
Some are experiencing only minor or even no symptoms with a Covid infection; others say it is the sickest they have ever been. Kothari said people with risk factors for a severe case of Covid may want to take extra precautions and ask their physician about Paxlovid if they become ill.
“If you test positive for COVID‑19, talk to your healthcare provider as soon as possible,” Kothari said. “Your healthcare provider can tell you about your treatment options and if Paxlovid is appropriate for you.”
It is no wonder some people are ignoring the present surge. It is the third summer of the coronavirus and people are tired of being cautious. Local RN Jean Reed sees hope in the news the Pfizer and other drug companies are planning updates to their vaccines to target the more recent variants.
“We are always going to have viruses that mutate,” Reed said. “That is why each year they have to change the formula of the flu vaccines. Coronavirus does the same thing. This is encouraging news that they are tweaking the formula of the vaccines to provide additional protection as time goes by.”
Reed said Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, recently announced plans to develop a vaccine that will work for the entire class or family of coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president of Scripps Research and editor-in-chief for Medscape, a website for health professionals, said it is crucial that we get ahead of the virus, and the best way is to develop pan-betacoronavirus vaccines that are variant-proof.
“We had potential to get them into clinical trials many months ago, but this is the first sign it may happen,” Topol said.