October 2022 Newsletter
Welcome to the October 2022 Newsletter for Santa Monica Primary Care.
In this issue, we are going to try to triangulate the state of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County. We will share the current practice experience with COVID and explain how the bivalent boosters might be so exciting. We will also cover the Blogs posted by Dr. Bretsky this month.
1. COVID-19 in the Practice and in LA County
COVID-19 cases in our practice have slowed dramatically (Figure below) with only 5 cases reported the entire month (2 repeat infections, 3 first time infections). In August we had 12 cases (3 were 2nd infections). In July we had 18 cases (3 were 2nd infection), June saw 29 cases (3 were 2nd infections) and in May we managed 33 infections (3 were 2nd infections). I had expected a bit of an uptick in cases with the start of school but this has not occurred, at least in our small sample.
Trying to figure out what is occurring in terms of case rates at the County level is still a bit of a guessing game – most notably hampered by the fact that the overwhelming majority of cases are diagnosed via home testing and, by the County’s case definition, are not reportable. That notwithstanding, incidence case rates have declined steadily since mid July (Figure below).
In previous issues we have discussed how a calculated prevalence rate might be a more accurate representation of the true case frequency. Current prevalence rates are as low as they have been since May at 0.7 active cases per 100 individuals.
2. BA.5 Bivalent Booster Uptake
As most of you likely know, the FDA authorized the use of Moderna and Pfizer Bivalent Vaccines for a single additional booster dose at the end of August. This updated booster is to be given at least 2 months after completion of a primary series or the most recent booster dose of a monovalent (original) COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer booster is authorized for individuals 12 years of age and older. The Moderna for those 18 years and older.
According to the latest CDC data (link: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-additional-dose-totalpop), only 7.6 million individuals – about 3.5% of those eligible for the updated COVID booster – have received one. Of additional concern is that awareness of the new boosters is “modest” according to a recent survey (link: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-september-2022/). One in five people surveyed have heard “nothing at all” about the new booster as compared to 17% who have heard “a lot.”
Personally, I’m pretty pumped (as Parker Schnabel would say – for my fellow Gold Rush fans out there – Discovery Channel Friday nights) about the new booster and am hopeful that it generates more specific and durable immunity than the prior boosters. Why would I feel this way?
Well, firstly, the current booster is matched with the dominant circulating strains as it contains an mRNA component from the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants. The graphic below shows that these account for the overwhelming majority of variants isolated in the United States: BA.5 at 85% and BA.4 at 13%.
Additionally, this is one of the first times that we have not been vaccinating or boosting into the teeth of a case rise. Given such, the relatively slow uptake of the booster dose is less concerning as we do have the luxury of time, for once. With a general rule of thumb being that it takes about two weeks for the booster effect to take hold in our immune system, the continued decline in cases makes it less likely that one will be exposed to the virus soon after the booster dose – perhaps before it takes effect.
I generally have been advising patients to strongly consider having the booster by the end of October – which is also a guideline for the seasonal influenza vaccine. While you can have both at the same time, it may be more prudent to separate the two. That way in the case of an unlikely, but possible, vaccine reaction – the cause will be apparent.
3. Blogs This Month
Our blog posts this and previous months can be found archived on our website at www.drbretsky.com/blog. This month we had two Blogs covering booster shots. One in the context of the seasonality of COVID (a trend which has clearly emerged) and the other structured as a Q&A session on the boosters itself.
Booster Shots and COVID Seasonality: https://drbretsky.com/9-september-2022-blog-post-new-booster-shot-heralds-covid-seasonality/
Booster Q&A: https://drbretsky.com/13-september-2022-blog-post-fall-2022-covid-boosters/
Our third blog covered more well-trod ground looking at incidence and prevalence rates of COVID-19 in Los Angeles:
https://drbretsky.com/14-september-2022-blog-post-mid-september-covid-case-numbers/
And out final monthly blogged looked at the idea that the US ‘follows’ the UK when it comes to COVID case rates (spoiler alert: it sort of does, but not always): https://drbretsky.com/28-september-2022-blog-post-following-the-uks-lead/
This final blog garnered some interesting Twitter reactions, namely critiques of the Zoe Health Study which is composed of self-selected participants who record COVID like symptoms into an app along with any COVID testing results.
4. On Patient Reviews
Patients who have seen us in the office recently will know that we have been actively seeking patient feedback about our services on rating sites, including Google, Facebook and Yelp. These have become increasingly important in quality metrics that measure the patient experience. We appreciate the time and effort that you have taken to post your experience.
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