Video: Mass General infectious disease specialist discusses current state of COVID-19 pandemic
Updated: 11:31 AM EDT Mar 26, 2022
DEALING WITH RAIN. RHONDELLA: WARMER WEATHER, AND DROPPING CASE COUNTS, ARE USHERING IN THE RETURN OF ME BIG EVENTS LIKE THE WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL, THE BOSTON MARATHON. JENNIFER: BUT, EXPERTS ARE QUICK TOAY S THE PANDEMIC IS NOT QUITE IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR. JOINING US TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IS DR. MARK SIEDNER, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASES SP ECIALIST AT MGH. DR. SIEDNER, THANKS FOR BEING HE.RE WE WTAN TO ASK YOU, PLENTY OF PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN READY TO DECLARE THIS AS OVER. WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ARE AT THIS POINT? DR. SIEDNER: THERE ARE VERY FEW CASES AND DEATHS ARE DOWN FROM THE WINTER. THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO GET OUT AND ENJOY THE SPRING AND OUTDOORS. I THINK MOST OF US HAVE SHIFTED AT THIS POINT FROM WAITING FOR THIS PANDEMITO END TO USING ALL OF THE CLOSELY HAVE TO BE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE. RHONDELLA: EVENTS LIKE THE BOSTON MARATHON ARE CERTAINLY BIG GATHERINGS, ARE THERE STILL CONCERNS ABOUT TS?HI DR. SIEDNER: AN IMPORTANT LESSON FROM THET LASW YEARS IS THAT INFECTIONS ARE RARELY REPORTED AT OUTORDO EVENTS. ONE OF THE BEST THINGS ABOUT SPRING AND SUMMER IS WE CAN ENJOY THOSE AGAIN .MOST PEOPLE THESE WILL BE COMPLETELY SAFE. ANOTHER LESSON IS THAT COVID-19 COMES WITH ITS OWN RISK FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE. SOME WITH IMMUNE SUPPRESSION SODIRDERS AND HAVEN’T GOTTEN VACCINATED WILL HAVE HIGHER RISK THAN OTHER PEOPLE. IT IS PEOPLE LIKE TTHA WHO MAY WANT TO CONSIDER THINGS LIKE MASKING AND DISTANCING, ESPECIALLY WITH LARG CROWDS AND INDOOR ACTIVITIES TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE SAFE. JENNIFER: WHIT MASK MANDATES DROPPING, WE WILL BE MORE EXPOSED TO GERMS THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FOR QUITE A WHILE. IS THAT A NCN?CO DR. SIEDNER: AERFT A COMPLETELY ABSENT FLU SEASON LAST YEAR, WE STARTED TO HAVE ONEN I DECEMBER BUT WHEN OMICRON CAME AND PEOPLE STARTED MASKING AND DISTANCING, IT ALMOST DISAPPEARED AGAIN LIKE IT HAD THE YEAR BEFORE. MASKS AND DISTANCING WORK, NOT JUST FOR COVID-19 BUT FOR ALL OF THESE RESPIRATORY VIRUSES. WHEN WE STOP DOING THOSEHI TNGS, THESE INFECTIONS ARE GOING TO COME BACK. MANY ADULTS HAVE SEEN THESE INFECTIONS BEFORE AND THEY TDEN TO BE MILD. AS WE STOP MASKIN AND DISTANCING, WE CAN EXPECT THE COLDS AND COUGHS TO COME BACK. RHONDELLA: THIS WEEK, MODERNA ANNOUNCED IT’S MOVING TOWARDS ASKING FOR AUTHORIZATION TO VACCINATE KIDS UNDER AGE SIX. AS WE WAIT FOR THE FULL DATA, WHAT SHOULD PANTS BERE CONSIDERING WHEN THEY LOOK AT THIS NEWS? DR. SIEDNER: THESE RESULTS WERE VERY REASSURING. KIDS SIX MONTHS THROUGH FIVE YEARS OFGE A RECEIVED A QUARTER DOSE OF THE FULL ADULT DOSE AND AFTER TWO OFHOSE T DOSES, THEY HAD STRONG LEVELS OF IMMUNE BOOSTING AND TYHE HAD MESODT LEVELS OF OMICRON INFECTION, 40% LOWER THAN THOSE WHO DIDN’T GET THE VACCINE. WE CAN EXPECT THIS TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE FDA IN THE NEXT MONTH OR TWO. THEY WERE POOR OVER THE DETAILS BUT IFT PASSES, WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL VACCINATION FOR THE YOUNGEST AMONG US BYHE SUMMER. AS A PARENT OF A THREE-YEAR-OLD WHO HASN’T SEEN HIS GRANDMOTHER IN TWO YEARS, THIS COULDN’T COME SOON ENOUGH. JENNIFER: DR. MARK SIEDN
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Video: Mass General infectious disease specialist discusses current state of COVID-19 pandemic
Updated: 11:31 AM EDT Mar 26, 2022
The Boston Marathon is fast approaching, but infectious disease experts like Dr. Mark Siedner are quick to point out the pandemic is not quite over just yet.
The Boston Marathon is fast approaching, but infectious disease experts like Dr. Mark Siedner are quick to point out the pandemic is not quite over just yet.
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