Booster doses recommended for all adults

With the new variant of COVID-19 now officially present in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is once again strengthening its recommendations on booster doses for people over the age of 18.

Scientists are scrambling to collect data on Omicron, which was first documented in South Africa and has been listed as a variant of concern. It is known to have more than 50 mutations, but little is yet known about whether illnesses caused by the variant will be different or any more or less severe than from other forms of the virus.

“Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky in a press release.

“I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness. I also want to encourage people to get a COVID-19 test if they are sick. Increased testing will help us identify Omicron quickly.”

According to Micki Lyons, CEO of Crook County Medical Services District, “Crook County is now at about a 24% vaccine rate, so we’re up 2% from last month.”

Local Situation

According Lyons, Crook County is still experiencing a positivity rate of around 20 to 22%. Positivity rate refers to the ratio of total COVID-19 tests being performed that come back with a positive result; the higher the percentage, the more the virus is considered to be circulating within the community.

Until recently, this statistic was used to determine whether visitation should be open within the hospital and long-term care unit, but Lyons told the board of trustees last week that the district is “not using that as a form of determining visitation any more.”

This, she said, is because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has put out guidance that they’re “basically going back to normal visitation” in long-term care units. Residents have the right to have any visitors they like at any time, she explained, so there is no longer a limit on numbers or schedules.

The only likely exception, according to Lyons, would be if too many people turned up to visit relatives to allow social distancing, because those guidelines must still be followed. It’s unlikely though, Lyons noted, considering the size of the facility.

“On the inpatient side, we’re still limiting visitation to one or two people,” she added. This is because there are still patients with COVID-19 on the floor.

CCMSD does not have access to the new pills that are believed to be an effective treatment for serious COVID-19 cases, Lyons said. However, the hospital has been experiencing success in more severe cases with the use of monoclonal antibody treatments.

Hospitalizations and Deaths

Positive news from Wyoming’s hospitals as the rate of serious COVID-19 infections continues to drop from its all-time high of 249 on October 21. By the end of last week, this rate had more than halved, with just 120 infected people in hospital.

In Crook County, COVID-19 hospitalizations continue, though at a slightly lower rate than during the peak of this wave of the pandemic. Since November 20, between one and three patients have been hospitalized due to the virus almost every day.

The number of deaths in Wyoming has risen by 81 over the last two weeks to a total of 1428. Last week’s announcement included one death in Crook County, bringing the overall total to 21.

State data shows that the local death was an adult woman who died in November and had health conditions known to put people at higher risk of severe illness.