- April 24, 2024
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Should the general public be considering taking a third dose, or a booster shot, of the COVID-19 vaccine?
Dr. Vincent Hsu, executive director of infection prevention and hospital epidemiologist at AdventHealth said that depends: A third dose of an mRNA vaccine such as the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines is only currently being considered for immunocompromised individuals. A vaccine "booster" dose is intended for patients with no comorbidities and regular immune systems, as data is showing virus immunity tends to wane over time, and a plan for these booster doses is not yet in place.
But those interested in receiving a third dose should speak to their health care providers, said Hsu during AdventHealth's morning briefing on Thursday, Aug. 19. The hospital system reported it has about 1,620 patients hospitalized in its central Florida facilities in Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Polk, Volusia and Flagler counties. The high amounts of hospitalizations have resulted in staff shortages, full intensive care units, long emergency room waits and "tremendous" stress for health care workers, said Hsu.
“This is, unfortunately, a crisis of unprecedented proportions," Hsu said. "We just haven’t seen these numbers. We’re over two times the number of COVID patients that we were during the winter peak earlier this year.”
There is hope the surge could be stemmed, and the epidemiologist encouraged continue to wear their masks, practice social distancing and get vaccinated, if they haven't already.
“It is terribly important, incredibly important to, if you haven’t been vaccinated, get vaccinated because it still the best bet to protect you against severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths," he said.
Adventhealth's median age of hospitalization has dropped to around 50 years old, but it is probable it could decrease to 40 years old soon as the trend for younger hospitalized patients continue, according to Hsu. Many of these patients are considered to be otherwise healthy individuals, and yet some have had to be placed on ventilators. Some have died, Hsu added.
In addition, the number of pediatric hospitalizations at Adventhealth has increased. Hsu said they are seeing the highest number of pediatric cases since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked during the Morning Briefing regarding the state of health care workers' mental health, Hsu sighed.
“You can see it in their eyes," Hsu said. "It’s just this palpable feeling of fatigue. Every day, the pressures that they feel, the crisis staffing that’s going on, does take its toll mentally."
He added that AdventHealth is aware of this and has mobilized its mental health resources for its employees.
