Between COVID-19 vaccinations and hospitalizations, Clark County is seeing some encouraging signs to end a bleak year.
During a Wednesday press briefing, PeaceHealth Southwest Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lawrence Neville said that in the first four days of the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics, which began last week, the hospital was able to vaccinate more than 1,600 staff with the first of two doses.
No staff experienced severe adverse reactions to the vaccination, Neville said.
“The willingness of folks to get the vaccine seems extremely high,” Neville said.
Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center, which is smaller than PeaceHealth Southwest, has vaccinated at least 128 staff.
Sarah Ericksen, a spokeswoman for Legacy Health, said Legacy Salmon Creek has begun vaccinating staff at the Salmon Creek location, after initially vaccinating staff in Portland.
Legacy Salmon Creek is on track to administer the second and final dose of the vaccine when staff are eligible in three weeks, Ericksen said.
Neville also announced Wednesday that PeaceHealth Southwest is not near its bed capacity, and is probably even at a slightly lower capacity than usual for the winter, which is usually one of the busiest times of the year.
PeaceHealth Southwest had 26 COVID-19 patients on Wednesday morning.
PeaceHealth Southwest is expecting another shipment of about 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine — the second authorized COVID-19 vaccine — in the next week or so. PeaceHealth St. John in Longview will get about 1,000 doses.
The hospital will announce news within the next week around the hospital’s ability to share the vaccine with other local health care providers, Neville said.
“It’s really encouraging news both about the vaccine and our COVID numbers,” Neville said.
An encouraging trend
Increased restrictions and pleas from health workers and health officials appear to have stemmed local coronavirus infections somewhat.
Clark County’s COVID-19 activity rate dropped this week, and infections have been trending downward lately. That data comes close to a month after Thanksgiving, which would mean any surge from the holiday would have likely manifested by now.
“We were able to keep the infection rates down better than expected,” Neville said.
Dr. Divya Bappandad, a critical care and pulmonology specialist at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center, said noncoronavirus patients have been delaying care much more this year.
She wants people to know local hospitals still have the bed and staff capacity to treat patients. If you are having health complications, get in touch with a provider to see what you should do, and if you are having an emergency it’s OK to visit the hospital, she said.
“The longer you delay, it may lead to worse outcomes,” Bappandad said.
While a Thanksgiving surge will likely not manifest, Neville still expressed concern about Christmas gatherings, and after that there’s the possibility of a surge connected to New Year’s Eve parties.
Neville said people need to find creative, virtual ways to gather. It’s important to stay physically apart from family and friends this holiday season.
Otherwise, “It will not be a pretty rest of the winter,” Neville said.
