Remember getting your first COVID-19 vaccine in the middle of a pandemic? After so much suffering, you finally felt a sense of relief.
For the most part, that has been the case, but of course, COVID-19 is still with us. Viruses are evolving and so are our behaviors. Now that we’re in flu and COVID-19 season, people are no longer lining up to get vaccinated. One in five Massachusetts residents have received a COVID-19 vaccine this season, and two in five have received a flu shot, according to state data.
Early in the pandemic, Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, shed light and provided guidance on how to navigate the early stages on GBH’s In It Together. She returned to GBH’s ‘All Things Thoughted’ to discuss how we should face the coronavirus pandemic today with host Arun Rath. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.
Arun Rath: First of all, I have to say that I didn’t fully introduce you there. In the years since we last had you on the show, in 2022 and 2023, you served as a senior policy advisor to the White House COVID-19 task force. Are there any big lessons you learned from working in the White House that you might be able to carry into the future about how we responded to the pandemic?
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia: Yes. I mean, I think some books have already been written, but many probably won’t be finished for decades. Because we have lived through very exceptional times that have been devastating and in some ways brought us together. And, as is often the case with crises, it creates a kind of division in other ways.
I think some of the bigger lessons for emerging infectious diseases were actually the importance of connectivity in the infrastructure that we used during the coronavirus pandemic, and how important that continues to be.
We have enhanced our ability to detect new variants. It will be important to maintain such laboratory capabilities for future threats. We have strengthened our international partnerships to ensure new health measures can be more equitably shared in the event of a new crisis. I think that will become important. And how to proceed more equitably will be important.
You and I spoke when I was responding to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. We talked about trust, and many of those principles have been implemented and made clear during COVID-19 in terms of building trust with the community, but my In our experience, that has remained consistent throughout COVID-19.
It was very interesting. Due to COVID-19, I played multiple roles. I was a front-line clinician. I was participating in hospital and state preparations. But I was also a communicator.
So, like everyone else, I learned a lot in terms of looking at the same problem from different perspectives. And from that perspective, we realized how complex it is to respond to these threats, beyond simply devising vaccines, diagnostics, and technologies. Treatment. Requires more connective tissue.
One of the reasons I continue to work at my center, which focuses on exactly this kind of thing, is that there are silver bullets, but connecting everything to make sure we implement and ensure equity is where we start. I think it’s because of that. It’s attached first.
Russ: If you look at the current situation in the fall of 2024, I’ve heard that the vaccination rate will not be very high due to the impact of COVID-19 vaccinations. I’m curious, you’ve worked at all levels, how do you feel about what’s going on?
Bhadelia: Well, I think there are several factors. The good news part of this is that the number of hospitalizations and deaths are lower than usual during this time of year than in any previous year. The bad thing about this is that COVID-19 is an ongoing burden. It cannot be eradicated and will continue to be a burden for the foreseeable future.
In fact, the best thing we can do is make sure we reduce the impact on our society and our health, and vaccines are a very important part of that. They continue to provide almost a level up to the changing variants that are out there. Although very similar to what we do as a strategy against influenza, COVID-19 is a completely different disease. As you know, COVID-19 is in some ways more serious, and the long-term effects of long-term COVID-19 are clear for some people. everyone.
“It’s not just about COVID-19. I’m concerned that part of it is the politicization of misinformation about vaccinations and vaccinations in general that we’ve seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.”
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, Founding Director, Boston University Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
To your point about what’s going on, what we’ve seen out of this pandemic is not just a decline in people’s interest in getting vaccinated against the coronavirus; Reduced uptake of other vaccines due to disinformation and misinformation.
It can be seen that the childhood measles vaccination rate is decreasing. It is particularly worrying that influenza vaccination rates among pregnant women are declining. Although there has been a slight decline in the general population, influenza vaccination rates among children have also declined. In other words, it’s not just the new coronavirus. I am concerned that part of this is due to the politicization of vaccinations that has been seen during the coronavirus outbreak, as well as the misinformation surrounding vaccinations in general.
One of the things we did when I was in the White House was talk with a lot of historians about previous epidemics and what happens at the end of the epidemic. Definitely, one of the things they said is that with a massive epidemic, people almost experience memory loss, right? They don’t want to deal with the trauma of the last few years. Are we at a point where people want to shut out the risks posed by the continued presence of the coronavirus?
And finally, of course, the process of getting the vaccine has changed. Before, there were a lot of different centers you could go to get vaccinated, but now you have to navigate where you can get vaccinated. By the way, if you want to get a vaccine, visit vaccines.gov. . Find a vaccination center near you.
There are several government programs for the underinsured and uninsured, and your insurance should cover those vaccinations as well. Here in Massachusetts, of course, everyone has health insurance.
RATH: Give people time to emphasize and explain why it’s still important to get vaccinated against COVID-19, even if it doesn’t seem as deadly or threatening at the moment.
Bhadelia: Arun, I think the important thing to emphasize is that vaccination is an essential part of ensuring that COVID-19 does not become a severe disease that could overwhelm the healthcare system. . Vaccination helps reduce the severity of the disease. This means you are less likely to be hospitalized if you get vaccinated, especially if you are a high-risk person.
And even if you were vaccinated last year, over time, viruses can evolve and your own immune system’s memory of your own immune system can fade, so it’s especially important to repeat the process now to stay prepared. Because vaccination is necessary. If you look at the winter months, holidays, people gathering, people traveling, it is very important to strengthen immunity with vaccinations.
RUSS: I think one of the best arguments for getting this vaccine, at least for me, is a really bad fear of long-term COVID. Do we now have a better understanding of the long-term nature of the coronavirus, and what will that mean?
Bhadelia: Well, we now have a better understanding of the range of symptoms that people are presenting with. Unfortunately, we don’t know if there’s a solid reason why some people will or won’t get COVID-19 for a long time. In other words, there are a lot of hints. In fact, as you just alluded to, there are multiple studies that have shown that vaccination may reduce the likelihood of long-term illness from COVID-19.
But what isn’t really happening is hands-on treatment. We have a better understanding of how long it will take. And in fact, most of the time, people feel better after six months. However, due to the wide range of diseases, there is still no single treatment that can cure everyone.
We have given supportive care and that is still being done, but studies are currently underway looking at the use of antiviral drugs. We don’t yet know if any of these are effective, but we definitely recommend that patients get vaccinated to reduce the severity of the disease. And what I’ve seen with most emerging infectious diseases is that the earlier you reduce the severity, the less damage there is to the body and, hopefully, the less chance of a prolonged COVID-19 infection.
