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MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - While the United States experiences a third wave of coronavirus cases throughout the country ahead of Thanksgiving, there is renewed hope as two companies announced their vaccines have a success rate over 90%.
The third wave of COVID-19 health experts have been warning about for months has arrived.
“We’re going to see these numbers get crazy out of control like we’re starting to see now,” Dr. Andrew Pastewski, Jackson South’s ICU Medical Director, said. “It’s an absolute recipe for disaster.”
More than 10,000 new cases of the virus were reported in Florida on Sunday, and more than 4,600 new cases were reported on Monday. The United States has surpassed 11 million cases, and the positivity rate continues to climb.
With Thanksgiving a little more than a week away, those numbers are expected to worsen. Georgia Tech has created a county-by-county map that measures the risks of large gatherings.
In South Florida, a group of 10 has a risk of at least 14% that one COVID-positive person will attend the event, and the numbers more than double in a gathering of 25 people.
Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University, expressed worry because this wave of the illness could be the worst one yet since cases are climbing faster than before.
“It’s so tragic because we’re so close to the finish line,” Marty said. “We face the inevitable reality of not having enough doctors, nurses, technicians, other staff.”
Some Miami-Dade County commissioners are asking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow them to meet remotely after he ordered them to meet in person.
“To protect the citizens who come to speak, to protect the employees who are part of this family and to protect everyone who sits at this table,” Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa said. “What we are seeing every day is more and more cases.”
Miami-Dade Public Schools is also concerned with the increase of cases. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said a group of health professionals will determine the district’s next move.
“I am not predicting closure of schools, but on the basis of the data that we currently have, it is absolutely prudent for us to reconvene our public health and medical expert task force,” Carvalho said. “We will continue to follow the best advice we can get from the public health and medical experts.”
Jackson Health System has treated roughly 10,000 COVID-19 patients since the pandemic began. Doctors said they are better prepared than ever before, but they are concerned they will be stretched thin.
“One of my nurses told me today, ‘Oh, my God, here we go again,'” Vicky Perez, a registered nurse in the Jackson Health System, said. “It’s stressful. You can leave one day and you have eight in the ICU, and then, you come back and you have double that.”
However, there is hope.
Pharmaceutical company Moderna Therapeutics announced Monday their coronavirus vaccine has a 94.5% success rate. The announcement comes after Pfizer announced their vaccine has a success rate of 90%.
The first doses of the vaccine could be administered in December, officials said.
“We are going to have 20 million doses by the end of the year,” Moderna Therapeutics CEO Stephanie Bancel said.
Neal Browning, a vaccine test participant, described how he has felt throughout the process.
“It’s been flawless,” Browning said. “I had a very slightly sore arm after each injection, much like I would get from a standard flu shot. Other than that, I’ve had no ill effects, and it really didn’t feel like anything at all would happen.”
The company is expected to apply for emergency usage in the coming weeks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci said the good news doesn’t mean people can let their guard down.
“We don’t want the extraordinary success of these two vaccines to get people to be complacent,” he said. “I often said help is on the way, but help is not here yet.”
It will take time to get the vaccine to everyone, but come spring, things could start to get back to normal.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Fauci said. “Help is coming, and that should, I believe, motivate people to just say we’re going to double down and do this uniformly.”
Moments after she was sworn into office, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava doubled down on a campaign promise to make the county’s COVID-19 response a top priority. She announced a new economic task force and vowed to put science first.
“Today, my first act as mayor — I don’t need a pen — I’m thrilled to announce that Dr. Peter Page, the chief physician executive and Chief Clinical Officer at Jackson Health System, will be joining as our new Chief Medical Officer,” Levine Cava said.
Steve Geller, Broward County’s incoming mayor, made a similar public health push. He asked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to issue a statewide mask mandate to help slow the spread of the virus.
“It is my belief, based on the science, that if everybody would start wearing masks, we can avoid widespread shutdown,” Geller said.
As a result of the successful vaccines, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased to an all-time high since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci said the vaccine will come in about two doses that will be administered several weeks apart. It will first be made available to the elderly, to those most at-risk and health experts.
Officials predict the vaccine will be available for the general public in the coming spring or summer.
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