PORT TOWNSEND — The public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties said COVID-19 cases on the Peninsula are on the rise, and similar trends are occurring both statewide and nationally.
Dr. Allison Berry provided an update on Tuesday for the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners, her first since she went on maternity leave in May.
Jefferson County is seeing a significant end-of-summer surge, reflecting a pattern across the country, Berry said.
“We’re also seeing a rise in emergency department visits and hospitalizations for COVID-19,” she said. “Recently in Jefferson County, we had a child who was hospitalized (with COVID-19).”
Berry called it a difficult reminder: COVID-19 can still be quite serious for those who are at risk.
“Those who are at highest risk are the elderly and very little kids — kids under 4, in particular — those with underlying conditions and those who are immunosuppressed,” she said.
Staying updated on vaccinations and masking in crowded indoor spaces is the biggest thing that can be done to prevent transmission, Berry said.
“I don’t think we have to mask everywhere,” she added. “We certainly don’t need to mask outside.”
COVID-19 vaccines may be more difficult to access moving forward for younger populations.
“We have a strong reason to believe that these vaccines will remain highly available for people over 65,” Berry said. “(We have a) whole lot of questions about everybody else.”
For those younger than 65, to get the vaccine, the current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirement is an underlying condition that predisposes someone to COVID-19 or severe COVID-19, Berry said.
“That is not the recommendation of the doctors in the room, but that is the current FDA requirement,” Berry said.
At particularly high risk are small children due to their anatomy and their not yet fully developed immune systems, Berry said.
“Evidence around the COVID-19 vaccines has not changed — they remain as safe and effective as ever,” Berry said.
While doctors can prescribe off-label, it would require visiting a doctor and likely paying out of pocket, Berry said.
Access to COVID-19 tests has been reduced in both Jefferson and Clallam counties, Berry said.
“With the really drastic cuts in funding that public health has experienced from the federal and state level, they stopped the free COVID-19 testing program,” she said.
Local libraries and the fire stations generally don’t have the tests anymore either, Berry said.
“I am not fully aware of whether or not the schools have COVID-19 tests, but they aren’t getting them from us,” she said.
Public health recommends three vaccines for the fall season.
The RSV vaccine is recommended for those who are at high risk: Infants, those who are pregnant and the elderly, Berry said.
Berry said the influenza vaccine is recommended for everyone six months and older.
The COVID-19 vaccine is the third she recommended.
Berry also noted that officials are seeing a significant uptick in pertussis in Clallam County.
“We’re up to 30 diagnosed cases in Clallam County at this point,” she said. “Mostly in family groups and primarily in families that are not vaccinating their kids.”
Jefferson County has had two documented cases in the past week, she said.
Berry expressed concern about what she called the dismantling and weaponization of the public health infrastructure on the federal level.
“We’re seeing that the career scientists, the people who’ve been doing this for decades, are either stepping down or being removed and being replaced by people who will spread falsehoods to the people of this country, or agree with the people in power,” Berry said. “That is a fundamental breakdown of how public health is supposed to work.”
Berry said the personnel turnover is leading to public confusion.
She also noted several resources popping up the wake of losing federal data about vaccines.
The University of Minnesota basically rebuilt the vaccine advisory committee that previously existed at the federal level, she said. It is called the Vaccine Integrity Project.
“They’re reviewing all of the available data on vaccines and putting it publicly on the internet,” she said. “It’s kind of dry material, but it is at least transparent.”
Expert medical organizations are beginning to speak out against the actions and direction of the federal government in regard to public health.
“All of the people who are qualified to do this work are starting to speak out and say, ‘Hey, whoa, slow down! This is not how this is supposed to go,’ and also share their own recommendations based on the evidence available to us about what folks should do as far as vaccines as well,” Berry said.
The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Infectious Disease Society of America and the American Public Health Association are among the organizations speaking out and sharing recommendations, Berry said.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com.
