Amarillo health officials concerned about rise in COVID hospitalizations

On Wednesday, the city of Amarillo held its first COVID-19 news conference since before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Members of the panel voiced concern over the increased number of patients that are requiring hospitalization. For the third straight day, the city’s hospitals have seen patient rates rise.

Wednesday’s COVID-19 report card reported a 15.96% hospitalization rate, the highest since Aug. 23, when it was at more than 16%. Before the holiday, the month of November had seen rates average slightly above 10%.

While speaking on the impact of the new omicron variant, Dr. Todd Bell, public health director, stressed that while there may be some decreased efficacy from the current vaccine, the benefits of the antibodies will still make people less susceptible to the worst effects of the COVID-19 virus.

“What we do know is the things that work against respiratory viruses will still work against this mutation," Bell said. “We need to continue to do the things that have worked, such as masking, social distancing and getting vaccinated.”

“There is not enough data out there to determine the effect it (omicron) will have at this time," he said.

Bell said the data coming out of South Africa on the new variant involves much younger patients, which have always fared better with overall less detrimental effects. Still, the data is very scant at this time, he added.

“I did not expect to be here, where we are right now, in respect to the virus," said Dr. Brian Weis of Northwest Texas Healthcare System. “We are at two times the COVID-19 patients that we were having a month ago. We are seeing a concerning upward trend.”

Weis stated that Northwest has 55 COVID-19 patients, with only nine that were vaccinated. His hospital has 21 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, with 19 of them unvaccinated. Ventilators are being used on 13 of the patients.

“We are seeing some of the highest volumes we have ever seen in our free-standing emergency rooms and urgent care because people need acute respiratory care,” Weis said.

Dr. Michael Lamanteer, chief medical officer of BSA, also expressed concern over the rise in the number of cases.

“As early as a couple of days before Thanksgiving, our patient numbers for COVID-19 were in the 50 to 60 range. We are now at 96," Lamanteer said. “One constant among patients that’s the main reason for being here is they are not vaccinated.”

He said that 93% of the patients in the ICU and 90% of those on ventilators are not vaccinated.

“It is not the norm among vaccinated patients to have severe COVID-19 symptoms; those experiencing the most severe symptoms overall are unvaccinated," Lamanteer said.

BSA currently has 96 COVID-19 patients with 31 in the ICU and 20 of those on ventilators.

“We are at one of our highest censuses in a while with 334 patients,” he said.

Dr. Rodney Gonzalez of the Amarillo VA Medical Center said that his facility has had to send patients outside of the center to both BSA and Northwest with its limited space.

Currently, he said he has eight COVID-19 patients in the hospital with four in the ICU and he is seeing increased holds in his emergency room.

“While our numbers may not seem significant, we have a very small hospital,” Gonzales said.

When asked about the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine in reducing cases, Bell said that it was very similar to the flu vaccine with about 50-60% efficacy. Still, the critical function is to reduce the most dramatic effects of COVID-19 that cause hospitalization and death.

“One significant difference between this year and last is that the majority of our most vulnerable citizens have been vaccinated,” Bell said. “Without the vaccine, we would already be in a significantly worse position than we were last year.”

Daily report card

The Amarillo Public Health Department reported an increase of 262 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths in Wednesday's COVID-19 report card.

That brings the total number of cases in Potter and Randall counties to 51,045 and the total number of deaths to 939 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

Of the total, 3,245 cases were reported as active in Wednesday's report card, an increase of 153 active cases from Tuesday.

The COVID-19 report card is issued weekdays by the Amarillo Public Health Department.

There have been 46,861 reported COVID-19 recoveries, an increase of 107 recoveries from Tuesday's report.

Wednesday's report card also shows that Trauma Service Area A, which includes Potter and Randall counties, as well as the majority of the Texas Panhandle, is recording a 15.97% COVID-19 hospitalization rate as of Tuesday.

Potter County saw an increase of 107 COVID-19 cases, bringing the county's total to 25,099 since the start of the pandemic. Of the total, 1,354 are active, an increase of 52 net active cases. There have been 23,176 recoveries and 569 deaths related to the virus, according to Wednesday's report card.

Randall County saw an increase of 155 COVID-19 cases, bringing the county's total to 25,946 since the start of the pandemic. Of the total, 1,891 are active, an increase of 101 net active cases. There have been 23,685 recoveries and 370 deaths related to the virus, according to Wednesday's report card.

As reported in Wednesday's COVID-19 update, 454,454 COVID-19 tests have been conducted since the start of the pandemic, with 15 tests pending.

Boosters, vaccinations

The Amarillo Health Department is administering boosters for the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

Amarillo Director of Public Health Casie Stoughton said booster shot is currently available to individuals 18 and older who live in long-term care settings, have underlying medical conditions and/or live in high-risk environments. Those 65 and older who have gotten both shots are also eligible to receive the booster regardless of the situation.

According to previous reports, the city offers the Moderna vaccine for individuals 18 and older, as well as doses of the Pfizer vaccine for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17.

As of Nov. 1, the recently approved COVID-19 shot is now available for those between the ages of 5 and 11.

Immunizations are available at Amarillo Public Health, 850 Martin Road, during the following hours:

• Monday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Tuesday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Wednesday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The upcoming schedule for the city’s mobile vaccination clinics is:

• Wednesday, Dec. 8, noon-5 p.m.: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 1601 S. Georgia St., parking lot on the south side

• Thursday, Dec. 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Amarillo Wesley Community Center, 1615 S. Roberts

• Saturday, Dec. 11, noon to 4 p.m.: McDonald’s, 2910 S. Soncy

• Wednesday, Dec. 15, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Region 16, 1601 S. Cleveland St.

For more on the city's COVID-19 response, visit www.amarilloalerts.com

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo health officials concerned about rise in COVID hospitalizations