This Thanksgiving holiday is the first since the California and federal states of emergency for COVID-19 ended, and Sacramento’s top public health official is expressing some concern about the spread of respiratory illnesses.
Last year, early seasons for flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, collided with still-high COVID rates, forming a “tripledemic” that strained some hospitals in California.
“I think this time around we do have more tools available to help us to ensure that we don't see that huge spike in cases,” said Dr. Olivia Kasirye, public health officer for Sacramento County.
Namely, she pointed to the new vaccine for RSV and the updated COVID shot, calling the available vaccines “bright points” in the fight against virus spread.
RSV mainly affects infants and older adults. The RSV vaccine for adults was approved earlier this year and comes in two forms, Arexvy and Abrysvo. The CDC recommends adults over 60 and pregnant women talk to their health care provider about receiving the shot.
Pregnant women are particularly advised to do so because there’s currently a nationwide shortage of the RSV injection for infants and toddlers.
Last week, the CDC and FDA began expediting 77,000 doses throughout the country, but some California doctors are saying it’s too little, too late.
As for the updated COVID shot, numbers from Nov. 20 show only about 11% of eligible Sacramento County residents have gotten it.
“Definitely we would prefer to see the numbers higher,” Kasirye said. “We definitely will continue to put messages out to encourage people, especially those that are at risk, to get vaccinated.”
The CDC recommends everyone over 6 months old get one dose of this season’s updated COVID vaccine.
Especially during the holidays, Kasirye also recommends saving trips to the emergency room for “serious emergencies.”
“In the past we've had people going because they just wanted to get a test or just because they didn't really feel good,” she said. “Those are things that could be taken care of in settings such as urgent care or their healthcare provider.”
Even if you do go to the emergency room, you might be in for a wait. Emergency rooms see an influx of patients during the holidays. Last November, it took an average of 77 minutes for someone to be transferred from an ambulance bed into the care of the ER, compared to 62 minutes last October. Sacramento County has the second worst ambulance patient offload times in the state.
According to Kasirye, Sacramento County has not yet seen any deaths from the flu. Butte County reported their first flu death last week, and the state has recorded 14 deaths so far this season.
Another virus of concern since an initial multi-country outbreak last summer is mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. Latest numbers from Sacramento County show the virus is in circulation, with at least seven cases reported to public health since late September.
Rates aren’t nearly as high as they are in Los Angeles and San Francisco counties, but Kasirye anticipates the region will continue to see “a trickle” of cases and encourages people who may be at higher risk, including anyone who may be in contact with someone with mpox, to get a vaccine.
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