Indiana health officials hosted a COVID-19 press conference Wednesday, just one day after the state surpassed 15,000 total deaths due to the pandemic.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Kris Box and Dr. Lindsay Weaver, the state’s chief medical officer, addressed the waning COVID-19 trends across the state and the availability of booster shots, as recommended by the CDC for many populations.
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Box and Weaver spoke from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s IndyCar parking lot, which is offering PCR and antigen COVID-19 testing, COVID-19 vaccinations and influenza vaccines. The clinic is open 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday until Oct. 30.
Here’s what else we learned:
- The statewide number of COVID-19 cases has dropped for the third straight week, which is line with the overall trend across the country.
- The statewide positivity rate fell under 10% for the first time in weeks.
- “We don’t see these declines to be linear. We may see cases bounce back up and bounce back down” Box said, “That is the nature of this disease.” But the overall declines over three week is “certainly a cause for optimism,” she said.
- Since schools have implemented mask mandates and offered no-quarantine options,officials are seeing a decrease in the number of close contacts being quarantined, a decline in the number of cases at schools, more schools reporting COVID-19 data, and more in-person school instruction.
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- COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state have declined slightly, but hospitals “continue to be stressed. Many hospitals are still operating on diversion for their emergency departments and ICUs.
- Some hospitals are receiving assistance from the Indiana National Guard, including Ascension Health St Vincent on 86th Street, Deaconness Midtown and Deaconess hospitals in Evansville and Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville. Another team will soon be deployed to Methodist South Lake and North Lake in Northwestern Indiana, Box said.
- 95% of Hoosiers who are hospitalized are unvaccinated. For example, Box said, of the 315 patients who were in the ICU as of Sept. 5, only nine were fully vaccinated.
- Officials continue to be concerned about pregnant people getting infected with COVID-19. The disease has proven to be more severe for pregnant people, Box said, with the ICU hospitalization rate twice that of non-pregnant people. The disease also increases the risk of poor pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirth and preterm birth.
- There is no evidence-based study that the COVID-19 vaccine decreases a man or woman’s fertility, Box said.
- The state is making COVID-19 booster shots available for those who fall under the CDC’s latest guidance, Weaver said. The Pfizer booster vaccine is authorized for the following populations:
- Hoosiers ages 65 years and older
- Hoosiers ages 50-64 with underlying medical conditions
- Hoosiers 18-49 with underlying medical conditions, based on individual risk and benefit
- Hoosiers ages 18 and older who have a risk of exposure due to occupational and institutional settings, including health care workers, first responders and teachers.
- “We have ample Pfizer supply” for the booster shots, Weaver said. You do not need an appointment to receive a booster shot, if you fall under the applicable populations. 1.6 million people ages 18 and older have received the Pfizer vaccine.
- More than 35,000 Hoosiers ages 18 and older have received a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine. This includes both the immunocompromised third dose recipients and the booster dose recipients.
- 56% of eligible Hoosiers are fully vaccinated to date. About 10,000 vaccine doses are being administered each day in Indiana, Weaver said. That means 5,000-6,000 Hoosiers become fully vaccinated each day. That pace means it could be “well over another year before we achieve sufficient levels of immunizations to provide robust protection for the population at large.”
- Only 1/3 of all eligible children ages 12-15 are vaccinated across the state. Weaver said the health department is communicating with school nurses and pediatricians “to give them avenues” on how to talk to families and share the importance of getting children vaccinated.
- Officials also stressed the importance of protecting yourself during flu season. “Please remember to get your flu shot,” Weaver said. Both vaccines are safe to receive at the same time, Box and Weaver said.
- Since the IMS vaccine and testing site opened last week, more than 120 Hoosiers have received both their COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. The clinic offers all three COVID-19 vaccines, and Spanish and ASL interpreters are available on site.
IndyStar’s Shari Rudavsky contributed to this report.
Contact Rashika Jaipuriar at rjaipuriar@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @rashikajpr.
