Talking Omicron, Boosters, Masking And More With MelroseWakefield's Top Doctor

MELROSE, MA — Patch caught up with MelroseWakefield Hospital's chief medical officer Dr. Steven Sbardella as coronavirus cases surges across the region and country. Sbardella talked about the spike in COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization, the Omicron variant, booster shots, masking and more.

The following has been edited for length and clarity:

On the influx of COVID-19 patients:

The number of patients that are in the hospital has increased dramatically in the past few weeks, where the hospital is running almost full every day. That is really made up of a lot of patients who have a covid illness and a lot of patients who do not. We're seeing a surge in COVID patients over the past 7-10 days that is mimicking the same direction the previous surges.

On the vaccination status of those COVID-19 patients:

There are many more who are unvaccinated, there are other patients who have been vaccinated but they have other medical reasons that might get them in the hospital. But the greatest percentage of patients hospitalized are patients who have not yet been vaccinated.

On what a full hospital means:

We normally have a census in the high 90s for medical patients. We're running close to 120. One hundred twenty-two is 100 percent full. We were for a long time just hovering around 7 or 8 COVID positive patients in the hospital and over the last week we've seen that shoot up to 28 at last count. The trajectory of the number of patients who are requiring hospitalization is increasing dramatically and that's what we respond to, we respond to the direction things are going as opposed to the exact number. ... We're probably looking at the spike that originated around Thanksgiving.

On the Omicron variant:

I think the best to put it and the best for the community's sake is that: It's happening, take it seriously. I think with the information that you hear publicly about Omicron is that it transmits from one person to another very easily but may not cause a severe illness. I think when we say that people get complacent. It may not cause serious illness in someone who's very healthy, but it may cause serious illness to someone who has other reasons they may be sick. It's coronavirus, it's covid, and it's still creating havoc.

The best thing we can do is everything we know about the best thing to stop the spread: Masking, social distancing, avoiding large crowds. Everything that we've already talked about. You hear about infections in people who have been vaccinated — some of them end up in the hospital depending on what's going on. So it's not that you get it and it might be mild because that's what you hear on television. If you have reason that could exacerbate something or line you up to be ill, it could create havoc in your body. I would rather see it designated as COVID, don't attach a variant to it. The variant is really more for trying to follow the track of the spread. Bottom line, if you have COVID you have COVID.

On what people need to know heading into the holidays:

We absolutely understand that people are tired of this. But when we're tired of it is not the time to give into it. What i would say is sadly, although different than last year, still try to stay away from large groups, try to spend the holiday with people who you know who have been vaccinated or feel very comfortable wearing a mask, and just be aware. When you're in a public setting, inside, I would wear a mask. Those are the things we've been teaching forever but I'm not sure what the compliance rate is because I think people are tired of the whole thing. But it's not going away.

On whether local communities should implement mask mandates:

I would like to see people use their judgement. With the new variant, there's always a chance of getting an infection, it might just be a bad cold, but you never know who you're standing next to you and what their status is. I am not a proponent of shutting the world down, as long as people follow the recommendations and are cognizant of their community responsibility to do the best they possibly can to stop the spread of the virus.

On booster shots:

Booster shots are very important because all the science shows the original level of immunity that you get from the first two shots or even a natural infection starts to wane a bit over time which is how a lot of antibody responses occur in your body. And what the booster does is bring you back up to a much higher level of protection and so the booster shots are really really important and we really encourage people to follow through, if the timing is right to get the booster, it will only help to protect you.

What we're doing at the hospital is we're going to be doing another clinic. We feel that we have a community obligation to at least offer one more access point, because what we're seeing is some of the what were becoming the more common access points like pharmacies and so forth are backing off a little bit because they're getting overwhelmed. So we figured another way to stop the flow of people needing hospitalization was to offer the boosters which might help keep them out of the hospital.

On changing guidance:

The base information hasn't changed: Getting the vaccine whatever vaccine you get around the world is still looked upon as one of the major ways to avoid getting a severe infection. That hasn't changed. If you remember when this all started a lot of the information that came out said, "By what we know as of right now." We've basically been in this for almost two years, we're gaining information that we wanted two years ago but wasn't there because it was a novel virus. So the more information we get the better research is done and the better determination about what those research results mean.

Look at the example of J&J and now the recommendation is to take Moderna or Pfizer, that's really based on the research and following of cases from people who got blood clots getting J&J. It doesn't say don't get vaccinated. The base is still the same. The vaccine will help protect you to potentially decrease the severity of the illness. The changes that you hear is the system working the way it should be working. As new information comes out it can be validated and confirmed. That's how all these safety mechanisms and medications work, it's a constant re-evaluation of a situation.

On whether there's optimism moving forward:

To some degree, we have to learn how to live with it, because viruses change. My optimism is rooted in the fact that I think more and more people will participate in the vaccination and see the light that can create the light at the end of the tunnel by following the recommendations. I think if people can follow the recommendations, the light will come more and more, and the more and more we can interrupt the flow of this virus.

On whether vaccinations have hit a plateau in Massachusetts:

My hope is that we haven't hit the plateau. I don't have a direct answer to the question. Every day I come to work and hope there are more people vaccinated today than yesterday because I see the people in the hospital.

On the hospital reinstating a temporary no-visitor policy:

We have this week initiated temporarily restricting visitors coming into the hospital. We know that's disruptive to the community and disruptive to the families but we think with the sudden change and the dramatic change in the volume of cases that we have to choose to create the safest environment for the community as well as for the staff even if it disrupts community access to the hospital to visit patients. We will make every attempt to communicate clearly with family members as we clear for their family members in the hospital but I just want to outwardly apologize for being disruptive to the community but we think it's necessary on a temporary basis. (Read more about the current policy here.)

On hospital staffing issues:

Like every other healthcare system across the country we have staffing issues right now, a lot of people have left healthcare because two years of doing this has been very difficult for a lot of people. We are staffed OK right now, it's difficult. People are still coming to work, they're motivated to do the best job they can, they're tired. They're doing the best they can but they're tired. Some of our staff members have contracted COVID from being out in the community just like every other organization and we work around that. I've got to say I'm really proud of the staff members who are still here every day taking care of whatever patients come through the door. But we are feeling the staffing crunch.

Related

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• Hospitals Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst
• A Year Of The Pandemic At MelroseWakefield Hospital
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• Hospital Gets 'Happy' When Coronavirus Patients Discharged

Mike Carraggi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook