Health and Medicine
Carilion officials say the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines are expected in the Roanoke Valley by this weekend for distribution as soon as early next week — presuming the FDA approves them Thursday morning. Carilion says the first doses that will be administered to front-line health care workers and patients in nursing homes. Doctor Paul Skolnik is Chair of Medicine at Carilion Clinic:
The first vaccines to arrive are from Pfizer and are administered in two doses 21 days apart.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment rose slightly in the past week among the health systems based in Roanoke, Lynchburg and Southside Virginia. Collectively, they report 285 such cases as of today, up five from a week ago. Conversely, the number of patients using ventilators has fallen slightly; last week, the number was 30, and as of today, its is 24. The health systems reporting these numbers are Carilion, LewisGale, Salem VA, Lynchburg-based Centra and Southside-based Sovah. There is no specific breakdown by particular health care system.
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A virtual mini-series designed to educate people on cannabis policy reform ahead of the upcoming General Assembly Session begins tomorrow. WFIR’s Ian Price has more on “Legalize It”
The number of places where you can get a COVID-19 antibody test is growing – now including all Kroger pharmacies in the region. The test results come back quickly; within 15 minutes of a finger prick for one drop of blood, they tell you whether your immune system has developed COVID antibodies. It means you can learn if you have had the virus, but not if you are currently infected. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Other locations that provide antibody tests include many urgent care centers.
KROGER NEWS RELEASE: The FDA-authorized rapid antibody tests—conducted using a finger-prick blood sample—are now available at Kroger pharmacies in the Mid-Atlantic area, which includes more than 100 stores in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. The tests, which are supplied by Whitmire Medical, are available to Kroger customers for $25 and typically provide results within 15 minutes. Individuals who believe they may have previously been infected with COVID-19 and are not currently experiencing symptoms are eligible for the test.
In September, the American Society for Microbiology reported that 73% of surveyed testing labs experienced a shortage of commercial testing kits for SARS-CoV-2, a capacity challenge that may have hindered testing accessibility for many Americans. As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in many states, Kroger Health’s rapid antibody test may provide critical information about past infection to patients who believe they may have been exposed to the coronavirus but were unable to access testing at the time of infection.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroger Heath has remained committed to helping people live healthier lives by offering in-clinic and at-home COVID-19 testing solutions supported by our multi-disciplinary team of licensed, trained and experienced healthcare providers,” said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health. “Making rapid antibody testing available across our family of pharmacies will not only provide an affordable and convenient testing solution for individuals who want to understand if they have previously been infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, but also help clinicians understand the long-term impacts of COVID-19 and potential public health strategies for fighting the disease.”
Kroger Health’s rapid antibody tests are conducted by a licensed health professional using a fingerstick blood sample and the Assure COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Device, a rapid lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay (configured like a blood sugar test) to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The test was first authorized by the FDA for emergency use in July and further authorized for broader point-of-care use in September. Kroger is the first retailer to offer the testing solution to its customers.
Research is still underway to determine how long antibodies are present following infection and if the presence of antibodies provides protective immunity. Regardless of the testing result, all patients should continue to practice FDA-recommended safety guidelines, including social distancing and wearing masks. The Assure COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test should not be used to diagnose an active infection, as the test only detects antibodies developed in response to the virus, not the virus itself.
For more information, visit KrogerHealth.com.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — If federal regulators authorize two COVID-19 vaccine candidates, Virginia expects to receive enough doses by the year’s end to begin inoculating nearly all of its health care workers and long-term care facility residents, officials said Friday.
The state voted this week to adopt federal recommendations that those two groups be prioritized for vaccination. The Virginia Department of Health estimates there are up to 500,000 health care workers and long-term care facility residents in the state and announced Friday that 480,000 doses of vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna could arrive by the end of December.
“We will focus initially on the groups that have been most at risk for severe illness from COVID-19 infections and those whose work puts them at greatest risk of contracting COVID-19 infections,” Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. M. Norman Oliver said in a statement Friday. “Over time, as more vaccine supply becomes available, more Virginians will be able to get vaccinated, and we can look forward to a time when this pandemic will end.”
Later this month, the Food and Drug Administration will consider authorizing emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Each product requires two doses.
Pending regulatory authorization, the first shipment is expected to include 72,150 initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine arriving in mid-December, according to a health department news release.
All those initial doses will be distributed directly to health care systems with ultracold storage capacity, and will go to health care workers, officials said. Health care personnel that directly care for COVID-19 patients will receive top priority.
Subsequent weekly shipments are expected to begin after the initial shipment and will be divided among health care personnel and long-term care facility residents, according to the news release, which noted that the actual amount of vaccine received in Virginia would be a “moving target.”
Experts say the vaccine will probably not become widely available in the U.S. until the spring.
Most long-term care facility residents in Virginia will receive vaccinations in their facility through a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens, the health department said.
The news comes as the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 hit an all-time high in the U.S. this week, reaching 100,667 on Thursday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That figure has more than doubled over the past month, while new daily cases are averaging 210,000 and deaths are averaging 1,800 per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Comparatively, Virginia has been faring better than many other states. There were 395.8 new cases per 100,000 people in Virginia over the past two weeks, which ranks 47th in the country for new cases per capita, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project.
Still, one in every 546 people tested positive for the virus in the past week in the state, where over 4,100 deaths have been attributed to the virus. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 406.1, an increase of 22.3%, according to AP’s analysis.
Photo; VTC School of Medicine
Applications to the nation’s medical schools are up 17% this year, but at the Virginia Tech-Carilion School of Medicine, that number is much higher. In one year, applications to VT-C jumped 48% per cent, this year approaching 6,400 for the 49 available seats for the class that arrives late next summer. School officials credit both its recent record – and the lifestyle that Roanoke offers. WFIR’s Evan Jones has the story.
NEWS RELEASE: December 3, 2020 — The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine received 6,374 applications, a 48 percent increase from last year’s total of 4,299.
The school’s application deadline for the Class of 2025, which has 49 available seats, was Dec. 1.
“More and more people are discovering the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and recognizing it as a place to become systems-minded scientist physicians,” said Lee Learman, dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. “In addition, our continued success in matching all of our graduates to top-choice residency programs is attractive to prospective students.”
Video: https://youtu.be/o1fiLvr30nw
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine has been in demand since the first class started their studies in 2010, but has become more competitive each year. Over the past five years, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine averaged around 4,000 applications for less than 50 available positions.
Medical school applications are up nationwide this year. The American Medical College Application Service, which processes submissions for most U.S. medical schools, reported a nearly 17 percent increase in applications near the end of October. In the past decade, the year-over-year increase has averaged less than 3 percent.
“There are a few reasons why more people may be applying to medical school this year: the pandemic may have increased a desire to pursue medicine and give back in this time of need; students may have more time to devote to medical school applications with virtual classes and employment; and it is a relatively inexpensive year to apply to medical school because the vast majority of interviews – like ours – have moved to virtual, saving travel expenses,” said Melanie Prusakowski, associate dean for admissions.
“As for our dramatic increase above many other top schools, I’m confident our curriculum – centered around research, team-based care, and knowledge of the systems that impact delivery of care – is valued even more during the current pandemic,” Prusakowski added.
In the midst of screening thousands more applications than normal, the admissions team also had to shift the interview format to virtual to help keep applicants and the community safe.
In a typical year, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine interviews between 280-288 applicants over the course of six interview weekends in the fall and winter in-person at its campus in Roanoke, Virginia.
The medical school uses an interview format known as Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) where students rotate through a number of interview stations. At each one, they read a scenario and then discuss their point-of-view with the interviewer. The scenarios help the admissions committee evaluate skills that may not be apparent on their resume or CV, such as ethics, problem-solving, and teamwork skills. They also get a more traditional interview with a member of the admissions committee to talk about their accomplishments, desire to become a physician, and interest in the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine specifically.
In addition to the interviews, applicants also get a tour of the school and surrounding community. The evening before interviews, a casual reception is hosted for applicants to meet current students and faculty and ask questions.
All of that had to be redesigned to happen virtually this year. “We’ve tried to mimic our in-person interview experience as best we can,” Prusakowski said. “Some of the presentations they normally would have seen in person have been adapted to video. We still offer applicants a time to socialize – virtually – with current students without faculty or staff being present so they can really ask the questions and get a feel for what it is like being a student here. They get a similar experience with faculty.”
The admissions team was also able to reconfigure the MMI process virtually via Zoom so that students still talk through a variety of scenarios with trained MMI interviewers as well as experience a traditional interview with an admissions committee member.
So far, the admissions team, admissions committee, and a cadre of volunteers – typically around 25 per interview day who have been trained in MMI and to do it virtually – have held four successful virtual interviews on Saturdays in September, October, and November. Two additional interview days are left, one each in January and February.
“The entire admissions team has worked hard to figure out how to pull this off virtually,” Prusakowski said. “From figuring out the intricacies of Zoom and adapting our MMI to work in that environment; to working with our interview volunteers to prepare for the shift to a virtual environment; to developing a secure, online way for interviewers to submit scores for each student, all have gone above and beyond to make this shift as seamless as possible.”
Beyond the interview itself, current students have shared that coming for the interview allowed them to see the school’s culture as well as the surrounding community first-hand. While not the same as experiencing the school and community in-person, the admissions team partnered with the school’s communications team to create an online experience for prospective students to explore. It includes a look inside the individual spaces at the school, as well as videos and information about Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic, and neighboring Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. Assistant Director of Admissions Kelsey Daniel also gives a tour of the community surrounding the school to give applicants a taste of what it is like living in Roanoke.
As we approach the holiday season, it is sometimes difficult to remember how much has changed in the last nine months. In Virginia, it began with a State of Emergency that Governor Northam declared on March 12th – and that was just the beginning. WFIR’s Evan Jones takes us through some key points of the year as he reports In Depth:
The reimagined Salem Christmas Parade, which is traditionally held on Main Street and sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Salem, was supposed to take place at the Salem Civic Center parking lot this Friday night in a safe and socially distant manner. Unfortunately, the ominous forecast of a cold and persistent rain on Friday night has forced the parade’s cancellation.
“The members of the Kiwanis Club and city workers from a number of departments have worked tirelessly to create this alternative parade and keep folks safe,” says Jim Paxton, Salem Kiwanis Club President-elect and Parade Committee Head. “The one thing we cannot control is the weather, so we made a unified decision to cancel it in the best interest of the participants and attendees. The Kiwanis Club appreciates everyone who tried his or her best to make this a success.”
While the parade will not be rescheduled, Salem’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting has been moved from Friday night at 6 p.m. to Saturday, December 5, at 5 p.m. at the Salem Farmers Market. This event will be shown on Facebook LIVE Saturday evening, as well.
“We hate that the parade had to be cancelled, but Salem still has many great holiday events lined up in the coming weeks,” says John Shaner, Salem Parks and Recreation Director. “We hope families will take time to enjoy these in a safe manner and appreciate what we have to offer.”