Media Coverage

Various news outlets wring about a volunteer shortage at COVID-19 vaccination sites quoted Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy. “It takes many people to run a vaccine effort,” said Nielsen. “It’s important that we have a large pool of qualified individuals in (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties) who can help ensure the time-sensitive task of administering the vaccine as well as being able to fill critical non-medical roles as well.”

Bustle quoted John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, for a story on how long people are protected after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. “This is unlikely to be like the measles vaccine, where you get solid, lifelong immunity, but it may not wind up being quite like influenza, where vaccine protection is relatively short-lived.” The story also was published by DNYUZ.

According to Forbes, 40 percent of adults in the United States are now vaccinated against COVID-19. Research from the New England Journal of Medicine suggests the Moderna vaccine protects people against COVID-19 for at least six months. “In the people on whom the studies were done, out to three months and now out to six months, they are still showing high levels of protections,” explains John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. For how long the vaccine could be effective, Sellick says there is no definite answer right now. “The companies have data collected for only six months right now and these researchers will continue to collect data,” he adds.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new scientific brief that says your risk of contracting COVID-19 from a surface is about 1 in 10,000. That means, on average, you have a 0.01 percent chance of actually picking up the virus from, say, touching a counter. Thus, if you happen to touch a contaminated surface, there may not be enough living virus on it to cause illness if you were to then touch your nose, mouth or eyes. But you may also have a higher chance of infection under the right conditions, says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “If you’re in an indoor environment where someone is infectious, they breathe viral particles on a surface, you instantly touch it and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth, you can get infected,” he says, emphasizing that continuing to wear a mask and good hand hygiene “will essentially prevent that.”

Researchers are closely watching COVID-19 variants. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson booster shot trials are all happening right now, experts say. Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, says boosters could be needed if the vaccine wears off over time or if it is not effective at preventing sickness and hospitalization from variants. “The good news is with these new RNA vaccine and DNA vaccine platforms, they’re able to adjust the code and formulate these vaccines fairly quickly,” Russo says. “The trials to measure the response, and potentially protection, could also occur much more rapidly than the first phase trials.”

Local school districts say they have been waiting for guidance from the state on when the districts can move to full five-day, in-person instruction. The state has yet to approve any plans and announce when five-day, in-person learning can resume. Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, says wearing a mask all day is key in keeping disease out of the classroom. “If we can open the windows and improve ventilation, that would be ideal,” he says.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a reputation for causing serious joint pain, but RA fatigue is another symptom that can be just as debilitating as the pain. The reason for RA fatigue isn’t clear, but some experts theorize it’s the chronic inflammation itself that may cause lethargy, according to Richard C. Chou, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine. The bodily pain that comes with rheumatoid arthritis doesn’t help either, he explains. “The pain is with you, often 24/7, and that will wear you out,” says Chou.

Articles on FDA-authorized KN95 face coverings quote John A. Sellick Jr., DO, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “KN95s are the Chinese version of N95s,” says Sellick. “They look and fit like the U.S. N95 masks and they can also offer similar levels of protection,” the article states. “But, since KN95 masks aren’t normally made and sold in the U.S., they need an “emergency-use authorization” (EUA) to be sold here — which has been granted.”

After nearly four months of vaccinations focused primarily on older populations, Erie County officials have said that young adults are now the most likely to catch the virus, and it is more common for someone under age 65 to be hospitalized than it is for seniors. “Because so many of our seniors have been vaccinated, they’re protected from developing a severe illness and hospitalization and death, and the vaccine is working,” says Erie County’s health commissioner, Gale R. Burstein, MD, who is a clinical professor of pediatrics. “So who’s getting infected?” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “It tends to be younger people. Our 20-year-olds: That decade has been the leader for cases overall,” he notes.

If you suffer from allergies, the arrival of spring can lead to itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and sniffling. According to doctors, rain can actually make allergies worse. The pollen that’s in the air may cling to rain drops and literally get washed from the air,” says Stanley A. Schwartz, MD, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of medicine and pediatrics, who is chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology. But rain can break up pieces of pollen on the ground, spreading them further. Rain can also indirectly make pollen counts worse by nourishing the plants that release pollen into the air, Schwartz says. “Rain and warm weather all stimulate flowering plants, leading to more luxuriant plant growth,” he notes. “If you have a good warm and wet season, the pollen counts can end up being very high.”

A new COVID-19 variant that is thought to be behind rising COVID-19 cases in India has been detected in California’s Bay Area. The Stanford Clinical Virology Lab identified the so-called “double mutant” variant through genomic sequencing of coronavirus tests. “At this point we don't know yet how concerning this double mutant is,” says Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research. “Cases are increasing in India, but they’re not spreading rapidly … Should we be concerned about this? Yes. But how much is unclear right now,” he says.

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the Western New York region currently has the highest seven-day average percentage of positive test results in New York. He says a vaccine supply is coming from the federal government and is up this week. “So vaccine is flowing, it’s still not enough for everybody in a very timely way, but boy it’s really good news for everybody now,” says Nancy H. Nielsen, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for health policy.

You are considered “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19 once it has been two weeks since your second dose in a two-dose series or two weeks since you received a single-dose vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Once you reach that point, your body has had enough time to build up enough infection-fighting antibodies to ensure a robust immune response should you come in contact with the novel coronavirus. The vaccines “aren’t perfect, but they’re highly effective at preventing symptomatic disease,” says Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. As a result, if you’re around other fully vaccinated people, the risk is incredibly low that any of you will get sick from each other, he notes.

Using a nasal spray seems pretty straightforward, but according to a viral video by a physician in Florida, it’s very likely that your technique could use improvement. In the video, the physician advises to first blow your nose, then prime the pump, then angle the spray to the outside corner of your eye, then pull your cheek to open the nasal area, then spray and sniff gently. Expanding on the Florida physician’s advice, Stanley A. Schwartz, MD, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of medicine and pediatrics — who is chief of the Division of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology — notes that blowing your nose is important. “If you don’t blow your nose, the mucus that’s in your nose will dilute the nasal spray,” he says. Also, Schwartz notes there is a risk of puncturing your septum if you repeatedly spritz steroid nasal spray directly on it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated guidance that states fully vaccinated people can travel within the United States without getting tested for COVID-19 or going into quarantine afterward. However, Erie County’s health commissioner, Gale R. Burstein, MD, who is a clinical professor of pediatrics, says between the rising number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and the new contagious COVID-19 variants in the community, she is concerned about spring travel. “I’m really worried that the second half of April we are going to see even increasing numbers of COVID-19,” says Burstein. Thomas A. Russo, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, agrees with Burstein. He says if you are not fully vaccinated, this may not be the best time to travel.