COVID Update: Vashon experts monitoring Omicron situation

Vashon’s EOC & MRC are monitoring the Omicron variant, which was discovered in area patients recently.

By VashonBePrepared • December 8, 2021 1:30 am
(Illustration by Vashon EOC, with variant data by the World Health Organization) The World Health Organization (WHO) tracks COVID variants that have appeared since the pandemic began two years ago. There have been dozens of them. Each person who becomes infected has the potential to produce a new mutation. So, containing the spread of COVID will reduce the number of mutations. That matters because each mutation has the potential to evolve into a new threat and that could keep the pandemic going even longer. WHO posts its variant tracking at bit.ly/WHO-Variants.
(Illustration by Vashon EOC, with variant data by the World Health Organization) The World Health Organization (WHO) tracks COVID variants that have appeared since the pandemic began two years ago. There have been dozens of them. Each person who becomes infected has the potential to produce a new mutation. So, containing the spread of COVID will reduce the number of mutations. That matters because each mutation has the potential to evolve into a new threat and that could keep the pandemic going even longer. WHO posts its variant tracking at bit.ly/WHO-Variants.

Vashon’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and our Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) have been closely watching the evolving situation regarding the new Omicron variant, which was discovered in Puget Sound area patients this past weekend.

This first monitoring step, known as “situational awareness,” lays the foundation for whatever local action might be needed in the coming months. Now that it is clear that Omicron has come to our state, the teams will be looking at a range of factors, including rate of spread of the infection, the severity of disease, and the potential for slowing the disease with safety measures and vaccination.

“Getting information is the key to making good emergency management decisions,” said Rick Wallace, manager of the EOC. “We are concerned about Omicron because that’s the right thing to do — be concerned and gather information. But, for all we know, this threat might end up like so many other variants we’ve seen, not as serious as it seemed at first. There’s no way to determine the nature or size of the risk yet.”

It is important to note that there is no diagnostic test for any of the COVID variants such as Delta or Omicron. Variant identification requires a sophisticated sequencing procedure in a laboratory.

Three Key Omicron Questions

To assess the Omicron threat, experts around the world, the state Department of Health, and our own Medical Reserve Corps experts are asking three key questions.

• How easily does Omicron spread? The speed of spread makes a difference, because a slower spread would give us all more time to develop response strategies. Omicron has already been detected in around two dozen countries, including the United States and Canada.

• How sick does Omicron make people? Some early reports suggest it is mild, but only a few hundred cases have been detected so far out of the world population of nearly eight billion people. That’s not enough data to answer this question.

• Do our vaccines work for the Omicron variant? If they work, how well do they work? Do the current vaccines at least prevent serious cases of COVID?

“We hope there will be a lot more information on the answers to these three questions in just a few weeks,” said Dr. Zach Miller, an infectious disease expert with the Medical Reserve Corps. “Just think how much better equipped we are today compared to the early months of the pandemic. We have surveillance tools, prevention techniques such as vaccines, lots of advantages we didn’t have back then. Scientists are working around the clock and around the world to sequence the variant and study the significance of the many mutations embodied in Omicron. So, instead of waiting months for information, we will have a better sense of things in just a few weeks.”

What Can You Do About Omicron Right Now?

Vashon Medical Reserve Corps has advice in several areas— things you can do immediately to protect yourself and everyone around you. These action steps work not only for Omicron but also for Delta, currently the most common COVID variant.

• Physical barriers make excellent infection protection. No matter the variant, we know them to be extremely effective: Mask, distance, and wash hands often.

• Another form of distancing makes special sense right now, because it’s the holiday season when people are traveling and gathering indoors because of the cold and wet weather. Think twice about attending any sort of gathering, and if you choose to go, take all the precautions described above. Ask if others in the group are vaccinated and enjoy small gatherings if the answer is yes.

• Even at this early stage, most experts say existing vaccines will provide some level of protection against Omicron, even if the degree of protection cannot yet be measured. We already know that the vaccines work against Delta, which is still our biggest challenge. So, get vaccinated, get boosted.

“We hope people will realize that taking these steps right now could make an enormous difference for your individual health, for your household, and the health of our community,” urged Dr. Jim Bristow, Co-Coordinator of Vashon MRC. “We want to reduce case and hospitalization rates as much as we can as we move through this holiday season. The lower the baseline case rate, the less likely that infection will spread in our community. Emergence of the Omicron variant makes this all the more pressing.”

Don’t Ride the Omicron Emotional Roller Coaster

“You are probably thinking ‘here we go again’ with all the talk about the Omicron variant, on top of the seemingly endless pandemic and the Delta variant and the rest of the Greek alphabet,” says Jinna Risdal, Coordinator of Vashon’s Community Care Team (CCT), which is the mental health unit of the MRC. “It’s important that people avoid getting on that emotional roller coaster, which has already been a stressful ride the last two years.”

Earlier this year, the CCT developed a “Creating Strength” training for our community that will give you valuable tools to build resilience and deal with these stressful times. You can watch the 9 short videos at bit.ly/CreatingStrength.

Here’s a quick list of tips selected from the video:

• Don’t fight it, accept it as a problem. Take a step towards dealing with your frustrations by acknowledging they exist. For example: “I can accept this is more complicated than I thought.” “It is a setback.” “It’s not what I wanted.”

• Lighten the emotional load by sharing your feelings with others so you can move on. Or, write about your feelings as a way to gain insight.

• Take active steps to shift your attention away from the roller coaster emotions. Continue to safely gather with friends. Play with pets. Enjoy hobbies. Exercise. Listen to music. Read a fun book.

• Step away and take brief mental vacations: Every five to15 minutes, set your stress aside and do something that rejuvenates you. Take a walk in the fresh air. Close your eyes and visualize a soothing place. Stretch and breathe.

• Take lessons from your life. Reflect on how you got through previous tough times. What has worked for you in the past?

Vashon Community COVID Statistics

244 = Total COVID cases for Vashon residents since the pandemic began.

5 = New cases since last weekly report (7 new cases in 14 days)

4 = Patients hospitalized since the pandemic began.

4 = Deaths since the pandemic began.

91.6% = Vashon residents age 12 and above fully vaccinated. That compares to 84.8% of the total King County 12+ population.

For King County, the PHSKC statistic dashboard says unvaccinated people are 7 times more likely to get COVID, 36 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID and 28 times more likely to die of COVID.

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