COVID-19 admissions rise in Erie County as hospitals await new vaccine

Erie County's number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is rising, as it has every late summer or early fall since the pandemic started in 2020.

However, the county's weekly total remains near the lowest reported since the earliest months of the pandemic.

Fourteen county residents with COVID-19 were admitted to various hospitals over a three-week period ending Aug. 5, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. It's an increase from three admissions the previous three weeks.

The numbers remain well below the county's weekly COVID-19 admission totals just five months ago, when about 30 county residents a day were hospitalized with COVID-19.

And some local hospitals still are seeing very few patients with COVID-19.

"We only had one patient with COVID last week and we still have only that patient," said Emily Shears, UPMC Hamot's vice president of operations, said Monday. "Our census has been fairly steady for months."

COVID-19 hospitalizations nationwide have risen 64% since late June, according to the CDC.

It's a familiar seasonal pattern. Some years the increase has been dramatic (2020, 2021) and other years it has been gradual (2022).

What is causing the rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations?

Infectious disease experts said there could be several reasons for the rise in COVID-19 admissions.

"We are seeing two new omicron variants (EG.5 and FL1.5.1) and those could be having an effect," said Dr. Howard Nadworny, a Saint Vincent Hospital infectious diseases specialist and Erie County Department of Health adviser. "We have also talked about people's COVID immunity waning over time, and it's been many months since most people either received their last vaccine or had a case of COVID."

Despite the recent nationwide increase, weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations remain near their lowest levels since the summer of 2020. The 10,320 admissions reported the week ending Aug. 5 is far fewer than the record-high 150,674 admissions reported the week ending Jan. 15, 2022.

Local hospital officials agree that COVID-19 hospitalizations will likely increase in the fall, as students return to class and people spend more time indoors.

The question is how much of a spike will we see in Erie County?

"I think we will see an uptick in cases and an uptick in hospital admissions, but not in the number of people who get severely ill," Nadworny said. "Though people's immunity may be waning a bit, there is still a lot of immunity out there, and these recent strains don't make most people as sick as the earlier strains did."

How will hospitals track and prepare for COVID-19 surges?

If COVID admissions spike, Erie hospital officials said they are ready to accommodate an influx of patients.

Units that are currently used to house other patients can be quickly converted back into COVID-19 units, like they were when the delta/omicron surge occurred in late 2021/early 2022.

"We have gained a lot of experience in dealing with surges," Shears said.

One difference is that, since the federal COVID-19 public health emergency ended in May, the CDC and state health departments no longer track COVID-19 cases.

It could be more difficult for hospitals to anticipate any rapid surges.

"I'm confident we will figure it out if another surge arrives," said Dr. Christopher Clark, Saint Vincent president. "Doctors and staff will start talking about what they see in the physician offices. I also still have our electronic medical records set up to see in an instant who is in the hospital with COVID."

The County Health Department also continues to track the amount of coronavirus found in samples taken from the Erie Wastewater Treatment Plant. The virus levels have been rising in recent weeks.

Those results have not been posted on the department's website since June, as a new wastewater dashboard is being developed, said Erin Mrenak, County Health Department director.

"We expect to have the dashboard up by the end of this month," Mrenak said.

When will the newest COVID-19 vaccine be available?

One way people can reduce their risk of COVID-19 this fall is to get a new vaccine when it becomes available. The latest COVID-19 vaccine targets the XBB omicron subvariants that have evolved in recent months.

Vaccine doses are expected to be available this fall, perhaps by early October, hospital officials said. But additional information about the vaccine is limited.

"We met with Pfizer officials a few weeks ago and, though there still aren't many details, we do know to expect single-dose vials," said Jim Caputo, LECOM Health's vaccine coordinator. "That would enable physician offices to stock vaccine more easily."

Hamot and Saint Vincent officials said they plan to offer the XBB vaccine at physician offices and might open clinics if the demand is strong.

The County Health Department continues to partner with LECOM Health to provide COVID-19 testing and vaccines at the LECOM Center for Health and Aging, 3910 Schaper Ave.

The clinic will provide COVID-19 vaccines on a walk-in basis and by appointment. The question is whether the vaccine will be free like they have been during the pandemic, or will health insurers be billed like they are for flu shots.

"We are waiting for more information from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. It appears it could be more privatized like the flu shots are," Mrenak said. "There might be a bridge program that would cover the costs for those who are uninsured but we are waiting for the details."

More: Erie County hospitals saw expenses skyrocket during COVID-19 pandemic: state report

It also isn't known yet if the initial doses of vaccine will be given only to at-risk people, like those older than 60 or who have certain chronic illnesses.

"We don't know yet who will be able to receive the vaccine at first," said Jason Chenault, Hamot's director of emergency, hospitalist and critical care services. "In the past, the most vulnerable populations received the shots first, but that hasn't been determined yet for this vaccine."

It's also still to be determined what, if any, previous COVID-19 vaccines are needed before someone can get the XBB vaccine.

"We are still waiting on clarification on that from CDC," Chenault said.

People should not call their primary care physician or other health-care providers at this point to ask when the new vaccine will be available, Mrenak said.

"Once we know the details, we will release the information through local media and put it on our social media," Mrenak said.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: COVID-19 hospitalizations rise in Erie County, PA