PORT TOWNSEND — The North Olympic Peninsula health officer said COVID-19 transmission is relatively low, although emergency room visits and hospitalizations are starting to pick up in the region and statewide.
Dr. Allison Berry provided a public health update on Monday before the Board of Jefferson County Commissioners and added influenza is similarly beginning to rise.
“We are not yet seeing any RSV activity locally,” Berry said. “But we do anticipate that it will come a little bit later in December. We have started to hear from some of our neighboring counties that they are starting to see RSV.”
Berry said now is a good time for people to get up to date on respiratory vaccinations.
There has been a marked uptick in RSV vaccinations received, especially among young children, Berry said.
She added that increased usage makes her hopeful that the Peninsula may avoid severe RSV outcomes like it has seen in previous years.
“This is the first year that we have adequate supply of that RSV vaccine for all small children,” Berry said. “We have enough for all of the kids in Washington state, and we are seeing far more kids get access to that vaccine.”
The avian influenza front is relatively stable, Berry said, although there have been outbreaks in wild birds and sporadic outbreaks in poultry and cattle.
No outbreaks have been observed among poultry or cattle on the Peninsula, Berry said, adding there is a relatively large outbreak in multiple cattle farms in California. Berry said she would be concerned if she was the public health officer responsible for those areas.
“We are not seeing any human-to-human transmission at this point,” Berry said. “That’s the big thing that we don’t want to see to prevent a subsequent pandemic of avian flu.”
Federal changes
County commissioner Greg Brotherton asked Berry how upcoming changes to the federal administration might trickle down to services at a county level. He asked about the potential of leaders who do not believe in the scientific method being appointed to health agencies.
“We have seen some wild appointments being put forward for these positions, including folks who have actively spread disinformation,” Berry said. “One of the worries is, could they at the federal level actually substantially reduce access to critical medical treatments, including things like vaccines? I would say that that would be hard to do.”
Berry said undermining treatments previously allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would be challenging. Even if key health experts in the agency were fired, there would be court challenges, she said.
“What is likely is that we might see some wild messaging coming out of the federal government, coming out of the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), coming out of the (National Intitutes of Health),” Berry said. “I am bracing for a rise in disinformation.”
Berry noted that Washington state has its own dissemination of recommendations independent from the CDC and that county health departments are independent from both.
“We don’t answer to the CDC and we don’t answer to the feds, so we don’t have to join in any disinformation,” Berry said. “We are going to do our absolute best to continue to be an excellent source of evidence-based information for the public.”
Berry said there may be budget cuts to public health services, both because of administrative positions and because of a generally difficult budget season.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
