Vaccination and Covid Second Surge Wave
The second wave is not just riding; it has mauled and incapacitated life significantly in several states across India. Collectively, our success during this pandemic will be defined by our individual efforts to stop this pandemic.
So, where are we failing, and what do we do?
Initially, let us understand why we are failing. Noncompliance with precautions is the primary reason for our failure, followed by complacency. Another reason is nonconformance to standards and presuming we are smarter than established practices, and indulging in Jugad. Let us avoid that this.
- Feeling helpless and : This second surge, with its massive hospitalization of the younger population and inability to find medical/healthcare resources, is a major cause of acute and debilitating apprehension amongst those who are infected recently.
- bored and
- Feeling scared and apprehensive:
Thanks, Nandita. Below is what we discussed.
Problem Statement:
With the massive resurgence of Covid, healthcare resources are inundated and are under significant stress. It has become common to hear that hospital beds are not available. Hospital beds are not available, and newer faces of clinical problems demand clarity on clinical pathways, decision making, and standardizing care. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are not available. We want to ensure a contingency model that supports remote care, aligns and with the best practices, and concurrently accommodates the limitations and constraints with the clinical settings.
With the massive resurgence of Covid, healthcare resources are inundated and are under significant stress. It has become common to hear that hospital beds are not available. In addition, emerging clinical scenarios mandate clarity on clinical pathways, decision making, and standardizing care. Where hospitals and health care facilities are not available, we want to ensure a contingency model is created. This contingency model will support remote care, align and support the best practices and concurrently accommodate the limitations and constraints with the clinical settings.
We are constituting a committee to do due diligence and update clinical pathways and standards of care. Existing guidelines from national and international eminent professional bodies will be reused (where appropriate) or refactored (where needed). We will create content based on gaps in the existing body of knowledge. Content brought from other sources will be credited based on Creative Commons. Content created collectively under CovidRxExchange will be under Creative Commons.
Join our global pool of experts across multiple regions and countries to capture and refine the clinical problems from your settings. If you wish to join the team as a contributor, we will add you to our three-tier team structure. with adequate support to consume the least amount of time. A RACI will be drafted, and ETA will be tagged to tasks/activities accepted by the contributors (panelists/experts).
We will publish a plan, progress, and a draft version circulation at the earliest to address the emergent issues. Key issues –
- Clinical Pathways and Disposition
- Standardization of Care under nonavailability of resources or resource crunch (nonfinancial and financial).
Those interested as contributors are welcome to join. Please share your profile, experience within Covid, and contact information on
Info@CovidRxExchange.org
Or Join Slack on
What do we do now that we are vaccinated?
Question: Can I visit extended family and friends?
Some people have been vaccinated against coronavirus, but the risks associated with spending time around others outside of your household haven’t been fully eradicated.
The current second surge in India, is an example. The
“The tough part is that right now, I think that we all still need to be vigilant in everything we do, whether we’re vaccinated or not,” said Dr. Ada Stewart, a family physician with Cooperative Health in Columbia, South Carolina, and the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
“It does make a difference if you’re vaccinated, especially if you have family members that are vaccinated and then you all can gather in a different way,” Stewart said. “So, there is a slight difference, but everyone still needs to follow the public health measures recommended from the (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).”
What to do if you’re vaccinated
Fully vaccinated people can “visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing,” the CDC has said. They can also “visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing.”
Fully vaccinated people can visit unvaccinated family and friends, but one household at a time, CDC official says. But there are exceptions. If, for example, you’re fully vaccinated and visiting people who are unvaccinated and at high risk for severe disease or death from coronavirus, you should wear a mask and practice physical distancing.
Also, avoid attending medium- or large-size gatherings where you might not know the vaccination status of every person. If you’re vaccinated but have unvaccinated children, know that “we just have to be careful when we’re around them,” Stewart said. “Wash our hands, wash their hands, wear the masks.”
Create ways to help your children remember how to be safe, such as setting up chairs as “physical reminders that going beyond this is more than 6 feet,” said Regina Davis Moss, the associate executive director of health policy and practice at the American Public Health Association.
Tips for unvaccinated adults, grandparents and children
For unvaccinated people who want to visit unvaccinated extended family, virtual gatherings are still best. However, if you’re unvaccinated and choose to visit unvaccinated family, everyone should be outdoors, wearing masks and staying at least 6 feet away from one another.
How vaccinated grandparents should approach visiting loved ones now — advice from Dr. Wen
Whether you’re indoors or outdoors, you’re more likely to contract or spread coronavirus when you are in close contact with people for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, the CDC has said. Therefore, consider the amount of time you’re spending together and the types of activities you do as well, said Krystal Pollitt, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health and an assistant professor in chemical and environmental engineering at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science. In addition to coronavirus spreading by respiratory droplets, coronavirus can transmit through air as well.
“Maybe avoiding a meal inside, but still doing that outdoors,” Pollitt suggested. This applies to vaccinated people visiting unvaccinated people — who are at higher risk of serious illness or death from coronavirus — and to unvaccinated people in general.
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Fully vaccinated grandparents can visit one household of unvaccinated children and grandchildren at a time, indoors and unmasked, if none of them are at high risk of severe disease.
Grandparents who want to see unvaccinated grandchildren from different households “should see the grandchildren separately or do it all outdoors” to mitigate risk, said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. “They should not be mixing them indoors.”
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