MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A dominant COVID variant has led to a rise in new cases.
“We are seeing a spike in the amount of cases,” said Dr. Sergio Segarra, Chief Medical Officer for Baptist Health/Baptist Hospital. “So in the last couple of weeks, throughout the state of Florida and throughout Baptist Health, we have seen a rise, so it seems like it is rather contagious.”
“It is causing a spike in hospitalizations,” he added.
A new sub-variant is gaining traction nationwide – EG.5 – also known as Eris.
“Overall there has been an upward trend in hospitalizations,” said Dr. Aileen Marty, a Florida International University infectious disease expert. “Overall the data looks like it is not that different from other omicrons. We are not really seeing, like we did with Delta, a higher problem with children. It is mainly with individuals who have underlying health conditions who are elderly, immune compromised, taking drugs that lower their ability to produce a good immune response, those are the people who remain the most at risk.”
Added Segarra: “Still in that big omicron family type, so it is a variant of that. It is not, thank God, what the Delta was, where it would attack all age groups and we were seeing people that were critically ill. It is something that we are watching closely.”
Memorial Healthcare System said they are also experiencing a slight uptick from a low in May. Jackson Health said their COVID hospitalization rate is holding steady at about 50 COVID-positive patients systemwide, with few ending up in the ICU.
“They are coming with primary respiratory systems, and some are ending up in the ICU, so where we had very few ICU patients one to two months ago, now we are getting a few,” said Segarra. “Not the large numbers that we had seen in prior waves, nowhere near the severity of it.”
Marty said a new booster shot is on the horizon.
“There is going to be a new one that is going to be out this fall, it is going to be very omicron based,” she said. “We think definitely it is going to help. People need to boost their immunity again, especially if it has been a year or more since they had their last vaccine, which is one of the reasons why we are seeing more cases. It is not that this EG.5 is a more dangerous virus, but it is definitely able to overcome many of the antibodies that were very effective that our bodies produced to either the vaccine or to being exposed to COVID-19 previously.”
In the meantime, at-home COVID testing kits are back in high demand.
CVS is tracking an uptick in purchases, as is Walgreens, with a spokesperson telling Local 10:
“We are seeing greater demand in this category nationwide, which may cause temporary and isolated shortages. We continue to restock those stores as quickly as possible.”
Said Segarra: “Families, a lot of them have kids going back to school, so we can expect more transmission of all diseases, so it is time to check your vaccination status and make the appropriate decisions. If you never got vaccinated, time to start to get vaccinated. It is efficient at keeping us out of the hospital, because we are seeing a spike in the amount of people. We always put an emphasis on the things we know are known to work, maintaining social distancing, the hand washing, and the staying up to date on your vaccination status.”
READ OFFICIAL STATEMENTS BELOW
CVS: “We’ve recently seen a slight uptick in purchases of at-home COVID-19 test kits. While there may be instances when individual stores are out of stock, we have ample supply to meet our customers’ and patients’ testing needs both in-store, in-clinic and at CVS.com.”
Walgreens: “We are seeing greater demand in this category nationwide, which may cause temporary and isolated shortages. Our website, Walgreens.com, updates with the latest available store inventory information frequently throughout the day. We continue to restock those stores as quickly as possible to best meet customer demands.”
Pfizer: “Pfizer continues to closely monitor emerging variants and conduct tests of the updated, XBB.1.5-specific monovalent vaccine against those variants, including EG.5 and its related sub-lineages, which are closely related to XBB.1.5. Our team of experts is prepared to develop variant-modified vaccine templates, should the need arise and as the data and regulatory agencies dictate. We remain prepared to distribute this season’s COVID-19 vaccine to pharmacies and prescribers by the end of August, pending regulatory action.”
Memorial Healthcare: “MHS is slight uptick from the low (which was in May) with COVID - ICU numbers have been 1-2 COVID+ for months so no increase. Respiratory viruses all up”
FDA: “Availability of the updated COVID-19 vaccines is expected in mid-to-late September, pending regulatory action by the FDA and recommendation from CDC. If authorized or approved, based upon the available evidence, the FDA believes these vaccines with a monovalent XBB.1.5 composition will provide the best available protection against the most serious consequences of the disease resulting from currently circulating variants.”