The Holiday Season Brings Renewed Concerns About COVID

The medical expert who became the trusted voice guiding the nation through the most crucial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic is retiring, but the pandemic appears poised for another winter outbreak as Dr. Anthony Fauci steps down following 38 years as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The medical expert who became the trusted voice guiding the nation through the most crucial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic is retiring, but the pandemic appears poised for another winter outbreak as Dr. Anthony Fauci steps down following 38 years as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

At the Shorter College Health & Wellness Center in Little Rock, free COVID vaccinations and flu shots were offered for students and residents in the area.

Dr. William Rutledge said, “We are offering the shots because too many people are still dying from COVID and the flu. Nationwide, we have a fair percentage of people vaccinated against COVID, but in our community, there is a lot of vaccine resistance among those between 20 and 40-years-old.”

Rutledge, a retired surgeon, is the medical director at Shorter College. Shorter like many colleges faced closures due to COVID outbreaks. Rutledge says college president, Jerome Greene, decided to add a medical director to the faculty. This is the fourth vaccination opportunity for students to receive on-campus shots.”

We want our students to be vaccinated but also this community,” Rutledge explained.

Holiday Precautions

Health care experts have tied a recent rise in COVID, flu and RSV cases to the Thanksgiving holiday. 

It’s been a year since Omicron became the dominant strain, and experts are concerned it may drive another winter surge. 

According to recent national estimates, new COVID cases averaged around 39,300 a day as of Tuesday which is far lower than last winter, but it’s a vast undercount because of reduced testing and reporting. About 28,000 Americans with COVID were hospitalized daily and about 340 died. 

The CDC is reminding Americans of the possibility of severe illness from a COVID infection.

Cases and deaths have increased from mid-November. Yet a fifth of Americans still need to be vaccinated, most haven’t received the latest boosters, and it’s becoming less common for people to wear masks. And as Americans engage in less aggressive behaviors to prevent infection, the virus continues to mutant.

For Black Americans, Rutledge identified one of the reasons for vaccine resistance.

“They just don’t trust the government,” he said. “We are trying to protect against outbreaks. If a student is not vaccinated, we test every week. We only have a COVID case occasionally, and when we find one, the student has to be quarantined.”

Many colleges are wrapping up the fall semester and heading home for the holidays. Shorter’s students will join the millions of others leaving a campus for break with plans to reunite with family and friends 

“If we have helped one person, then it is worthwhile,” Rutledge stated.