The Task Force on Infection Disease (IDTF) met on February 22 to hear updates on the spread of COVID-19, recent vaccine development, the vaccination statuses of Texans, and progress for the vaccine distribution plan. The task force also discussed other viruses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus and their interaction with COVID-19.
This report is intended to give you an overview and highlight of the discussions on the various topics taken up. It is not a verbatim transcript of the discussions but is based upon what was audible or understandable to the observer and the desire to get details out as quickly as possible with few errors or omissions.
Item 3: COVID-19 Situation Update
Dr. John Hellerstedt, DSHS
- 2+ years into pandemic; task force has learned a lot through this
- Hopes that accuracy and challenges are remembered throughout future pandemics
- Shuford – In Texas today, 5,425,212 cases; these numbers are decreasing
- Current hospitalization is 4,970; this number is decreasing
- 82,627 fatalities in Texas and a 7.4% molecular test
- Overview of pandemic response; 6,500 med surge staff deployed at stretched hospitals, 5,000 DME and consumables deployed, and over 42 million administered COVID vaccines
- Current epidemiology cases show that surges peak around the same high and lower to the same plateaus each time; except for the large peak of the Omicron virus
- For every surge pictured, children and young adults have a higher rate of infection; newer stands affecting younger crowds unlike first strand
- Demographics of COVID spread from 2020-2021; available on website
- On a national level, Texas is similar in transmission and cases to the rest of the country
- National data shows that 4% of cases are BA.2 strand and over 90% of cases are Omicron strand
- MIS-C case increases are tied to COVID case increases
- Regional infusions center offering therapeutics received from the federal government and distributed by DSHS
- Two therapeutics right now and two oral antiviruses that can be taken preemptively for high risk patients; Very small amount of therapeutics available
- DSHS invested over $15 million in to provide information about COVID and vaccines on social media, TV, and other outlets
- Task Force Member – How do you think BA.2 will develop in Texas; cannot look to other countries to anticipate
- Hellerstedt – BA.2 is more transmissible than omicron, however it cannot form higher reinfection rates, so it is hard to know; prepare for a different biology of the virus
- Task Force Member – Is their adequate lab capacity for COVID testing and others?
- We are preparing for a surge; room in the lab, partnering with labs, and partnering with UT Health
- Task Force Member – Hospitalizations were reduced for older age groups until the latest surge; was there a shift in people hospitalized between vaccinated, fully vaccinated and boosted people
- Large studies and Texas data are showing that vaccination status does make a difference in health outcomes
Item 4: COVID-19 Vaccine Update
Saroj Rai, Ph.D.
- Changes in the FDA authorization process; Pfizer requested an expansion for people ages 6 months to 4 years of age; FDA wanted to take time to think this through as there will be a third shot for this age group
- FDA approved Moderna second shot fully in 2022
- Novavax vaccine is currently waiting on FDA approval but is available in another county
- Vaccine effectiveness around the Omicron variant is lower compared to Delta; important to know that it still lowers risk of being hospitalized
- Multiple clinical trials being run for Pfizer and Moderna about Omicron specific vaccine targeting
- FDA changed the booster dose time from 6 to 5 months for Moderna and Pfizer
- Pfizer is the only vaccine for people 5-17 years of age; no booster authorized for 5-11 year old
- Moderate to severe immunocompromised people are allowed to get 3 vaccines; still no booster dose
- Task Force Member – Is there going to be an opportunity for Novavax to be a protein based vaccine; helping people who are hesitant to get vaccinated
- Germany received Novavax and is targeting people who are MRNA hesitant
- Task Force Member – We cannot promote one vaccine over the other; I think stake holders will like this vaccine
Item 5: COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan Update
Saroj Rai, Ph.D.
- Vaccine distribution overall summary; 42 million vaccines distributed in the state
- Over 17 million people are fully vaccinated; 6.2 million have received the booster
- 1/3 of children 5-11 years of age have received at least one vaccination; 90% of individuals 65 and over have received at least one vaccination
- Only 20% of children 5-11 are fully vaccinate; 65 and over have a high rate of full vaccination
- Middle aged people have plateaued out with vaccination stats; taskforce strongly encourages vaccinations
- 50% of people 65 and older have received their booster; 9 million people are eligible for the booster but have not received it yet
- Among the largest counties in Texas, 37-47% of people older than 18 have received a vaccination; 66-72% of people over 65 have received booster
- New vocabulary from the CDC; “staying up to date” with your covid vaccine
- Fully vaccinated refers to the original 2 doses; if you are eligible for a booster and receive one you are “staying up to date”
- Moving forward, emphasis on vaccinating the unvaccinated and focus on development for pediatric vaccinations
- Hellerstedt – For legal reasons, the CDC cannot change the definition of fully vaccinated; it is important for people to get boosted
Item 6: Respiratory Viruses Update
Jennifer Shuford, M.D.
- RSV virus spreads though respiratory droplets when a person coughs or sneezes
- Not a notifiable condition; RSV season is determined when antigen tests are greater than 10% positivity or PCR tests are greater than 3% positivity for two consecutive weeks
- We have been wondering what RSV season would look like this year; inter-seasonal RSV activity differs by region but traditionally goes from October to February
- Influenza cause epidemics from fall through the spring; not a large epidemic in Texas but state still collects data
- This season Influenza A is trending; declined in January due to response to the Omicron virus
- Almost all states, like Texas are low in influenza cases right now
- In 2019-2020 over 200 pediatric influenza-associated deaths; in 2020-2021 there was only one showing the decrease in influenza across the nation
- Novel Influenza includes viruses found in pigs and birds; avian influenzas can be found on USDA website
- None of these avian influenzas have spread to humans; just a higher spread in birds along east coast and Europe this year
Item 7: Update on Other Diseases Report
Paul Grunenwald, DVM
- Texas notifiable disease conditions in the national electronic disease surveillance system (NEDSS) research
- Neglected tropical diseases were mentioned last meeting; peaked in 2019 and decreased in 2020 and 2021
- The rare disease trends; Chagas and Dengue are not following the trends of the other diseases
- Task Force Member – Do you speculate why we see the increases of viruses in 2019 and then dropping in 2020 and 2021
- Would have to look at diseases and how they were reported; would be hesitant to report one trend
Item 9: Planning and Discussion of Future Meeting Topics
- Task Force Member – I would bet we will still be talking about COVID in the upcoming months; what within COVID or outside COVID would you like to hear about
- Member topic suggestions; state lessons learned from COVID and how they are gathered, vaccine preventable diseases and vaccination rates, and lessons learned by the task force
- Late May/Early June timeframe for next meeting