A Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is administered at Compass Park in Franklin in 2021. The FDA has approved a new round of boosters against circulating strains of COVID, as cases surge in Indiana and across the United States.
Daily Journal file photo
The numbers keep creeping upward.
Though COVID-19 has been relegated to the past for many people, the virus refuses to go away. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are increasing throughout the United States, reaching their highest levels since early 2024.
Area health officials are taking notice. But unlike the dark days of the pandemic, now is not the time to panic, they say.
“I don’t think we’re in a situation like we were in 2020, where you’re staying at home when the news says the numbers are up, you can’t go out and do anything, or you have to wear triple-layers of masks to go get groceries,” said Dr. Patrick Milligan, an infectious disease physician for Community Health Network. “We’re definitely not there anymore, but as long as people are exercising good judgment, they should be OK.”
Area doctors are urging people to be cautious as cases of COVID increase. But they don’t foresee a return to constant mask-wearing, closure of schools and abrupt cancellations due to infection.
Rather, the best approach is to exercise caution and good judgment and avoid large crowds if you feel sick.
“It’s really turned into something that’s not nearly as severe and at this point is more of a normal respiratory illness at this point,” said Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs for Franciscan Health.
With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving an updated COVID vaccines in late August, health officials are also urging people to get boosted for added layers of protection as we head into the winter months.
“I do recommend, in general, for anybody to do it,” Milligan said. “But with these new boosters and variations, they’re basically variations on a theme, kind of like how flu shots are. Each year, flu shots are tweaked to offer immunity to the biggest flu variants from the previous year. It seems like these COVID boosters are now coming out every fall, kind of like flu shots.”
The data all indicates a surge in infection, both in Indiana and across the country. Starting in June, hospitalizations, emergency department visits and deaths started creeping up around the state. The concentration of the virus in wastewater — an effective way of monitoring positive COVID-19 cases now that fewer people are being tested and reporting results — is at its highest since January.
In early August, the percentage of people reporting positive tests for the virus had reached its highest point since January of 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Still, all indicators across the board remain much lower than during 2021 — the height of the pandemic, when nearly 26,000 weekly deaths at the height of the pandemic in the United States in January of that year.
“We’re definitely seeing an uptick that reflects what’s going on with the broader community,” Doehring said. “We have seen certainly an increase in the number of patients who need to be hospitalized, but I wouldn’t say it’s close to being overwhelming. It’s not the same level of severity of what it was in the early months of the pandemic.”
As of the week ending on Aug. 24, 11 Indiana residents were reported to have died from COVID-19. Even during the most recent surge in early January 2024, the state reported 66 weekly deaths.
“The thing I emphasize when I talk to patients and other caregivers in the hospital is, it’s not making people nearly as sick as it did a few years ago. But it is highly, highly contagious,” Milligan said. “It seems like almost with each new variant, it gets more transmissible.”
The pandemic changed a lot of the attitudes people had about persevering through sickness, Doehring said. Whereas people used to see it as a badge of honor to push through illness to go to work or school, that mindset has loosened, he said.
Ideally, people keep that in mind with this surge, he said. If you’re not feeling well, or have tested positive for COVID-19, stay home to avoid spreading the virus to co-workers or others.
“Hopefully, people who aren’t feeling well or are under the weather, they’re not coming to work to expose others. Hopefully they’re being more conscientious about protecting others,” Doehring said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean wearing masks or whatever that might be; those things are still available. But being better about hand washing and limiting the risk of exposing other people.”
Corresponding with the rise in COVID-19 cases is the announcement of a new round of vaccines available to the public.
On Aug. 22, the FDA announced approval and granted emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines. The new vaccines correspond to the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of the virus.
“Getting a COVID booster is a little bit like getting an annual flu shot at this point,” Doehring said. “Certainly, if someone has had COVID recently in the midst of all of this, it’s probably not as urgent to get a booster; you should have some enduring natural immunity. But for the higher risk populations, just like the flu, getting a COVID booster as we get into the fall, having that layer of protection is recommended for sure.”
The vaccine is approved for people 12 years and older, with emergency use authorization for the same vaccines for children six months to 11 years old.
Those vaccines are now available at pharmacies and doctors’ offices, including in Johnson County, where pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens and Kroger.
Health officials recognize the political nature of the COVID vaccine in particular, and know there are some patients who cannot receive a vaccine due to weakened immune systems or other issues.
But they would recommend getting the vaccine, if you’re able to.
“There’s pretty good data that these vaccines, while they don’t prevent illness, they greatly reduce the severity of illness,” Milligan said.
