Local health officials continue with COVID vaccinations, monitor strains

Apr. 11—More than 19,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered at Lehigh Valley Hospital's facilities in Hazleton as of Thursday as hospital officials are reporting slight increases in the number of positive cases and admissions, the hospital's vice chair of the department of medicine said.

With the state in the 1B phase of its vaccination efforts, hospital officials are encouraging eligible residents to get their shots and continue following guidelines for stopping the spread of COVID-19, said Jodi Lenko, M.D., assistant medical director of the department of medicine for Lehigh Valley Physicians Group-Hazleton and vice chair of the department of medicine at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton.

"We encourage everyone to continue to take this virus and pandemic seriously," Lenko said in an email. "We are not out of this fight yet. Vaccination helps, but will only help everyone if EVERYONE who is eligible will get the vaccine."

Lenko issued the reminder as local hospital officials reported a "slow and steady increase" in the number of inpatients over the past few weeks, as well as a slight increase in the number and percentage of people who have tested positive over the past two to three weeks when compared with results from February.

Hospitalizations, however, continue to remain low, she said.

Local officials did not disclose the number of people who have been admitted and did not release numbers for test results, but Lenko said local hospitalizations are on pace with trends across the entire Lehigh Valley network.

"We have seen a slow and steady increase in the number of inpatients over the past few weeks," she said. "This is similar trend across our entire LVHN network with a very subtle, yet true increase in the number of patients being admitted with COVID infection and complications."

Lenko reported on trends as 19,674 vaccines have been administered as of Thursday at Lehigh Valley's hospital and clinics in Hazleton.

Getting a shot

Vaccine availability has improved greatly over the past month and hospital officials are encouraging anyone who wants one to check vaccine status and eligibility by going to their MyLVHN portal or registering at www.lvhn.org/vaccine.

Residents who do not have access to a computer can call 833-584-6283 to schedule an appointment.

Monitoring variants

With vaccination efforts underway, local officials are keeping tabs on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, Lenko said.

Local labs and testing centers do not test for strains of the virus, as testing for specific strains is done by the CDC, she said.

"The only information we have on the variant strains comes from the CDC," she said. "Not every positive COVID test is being looked at to determine the strain."

Variant strains have been a concern since they were discovered, as mutations appear to have made the highly infectious COVID virus even more infectious, Lenko said.

A doctor with the CDC confirmed last week that the "B.1.1.7" strain that was originally detected in the U.K. is the most common circulating strain in the United States, Lenko said.

The CDC's website has a list by state of COVID-19 cases that are caused by variants.

As of Saturday, Pennsylvania has 679 total COVID-19 cases that are caused by variants that include 672 cases caused by the U.K. Strain that was first identified in America last December, one case caused by a P.1 variant that as initially identified in travelers from Brazil who were screened at an airport in Japan in January, and six cases caused by the B.1.351 variant that was initially detected in South Africa and first identified in America in late January, according to CDC's website.

Two other variants that were first identified in California in February have not been detected in Pennsylvania as of Saturday.

Most variant strains seem to be more contagious and the "U.K. strain seems likely that it will cause more severe disease," Lenko said.

"At this time, we don't have enough information on the other strains to determine if they will cause more severe disease," Lenko said.

While it's difficult to determine the effectiveness that any of the vaccines will have against the variant strains, Lenko said it's "very likely" that the vaccines will provide at least partial protection.

She likened the COVID vaccine to flu shots, saying the flu vaccine does not always match strains in the community.

"But it is proven that if you get a flu vaccine and still get infected with the flu you will be less likely to die or be hospitalized from the flu," Lenko said. "The same holds true for the COVID vaccine. Being vaccinated with ANY of the COVID vaccines available will provide protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID including the variant strains."

In addition to getting vaccinated, residents can protect themselves by washing their hands regularly, wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings — especially indoors, she said.

People who start to feel ill should stay home and contact their local health care provider to see if they need testing or further care, she said.

Contact the writer: sgalski@standardspeaker.com; 570-501-3586