As numbers rise, hospital pleas ramp up

Sep. 9—Find a Vaccine

Finding a Vaccine is easy. Locate a vaccine nearest you by visiting vaccines.gov

Sampson County COVID-19 Vaccine Locations:

—SampsonRMC Vaccine Clinic — 522 Beaman St., Clinton

Walk-in clinic, no appointment needed

Hours: Every Tuesday 11:30 a.m. — 1 p.m. (Moderna age 18+) — Every Thursday 2-4 p.m. (Pfizer age 12+)

—Walmart — 1415 Sunset Ave., Clinton

Appointment required, call 910-592-1208

—Goshen Medical Center — 906 U.S. 421, Clinton

Appointment required, call 910-592-1462

—Clinton Drug Company — 307 Beaman St, Clinton

Appointment required, call 910-592-8444

—CVS Pharmacy — 507 College St., Clinton

Walk in or call 910-592-1538

—Walgreens Co. — 601 College St., Clinton — 218 E Dr. MLK Jr. Blvd., Roseboro

Walk in or call 910-592-4058 (Clinton) or 910-525-5100 (Roseboro)

—Sampson County Health Department — 360 County Complex Road, Clinton

Walk in and appointments available every Monday and Friday. For more information, call 91-490-1056 or 910-592-1131.

—CommWell Health of Salemburg — 500 S. Fayetteville St, Salemburg

Appointments required, call 1-877 WELL ALL (1-877-935-5255)

Sampson County reported four deaths and 404 new cases of COVID-19 last week alone, as case numbers creep closer to those seen at the previous height of the pandemic in January 2021. As hospitalizations continue to increase along with case totals, healthcare workers are reaching their "breaking point."

Sampson's 404 additional positive COVID tests for the week ending Sept. 3 was up 24.3% from the 325 new cases reported the week prior. The four additional deaths in a week's time — the county has had 120 to date — were more than the county had in the past several months combined.

The county's two-week case rate, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), stands at 1,163 per 100,000 residents, in line with the 729 cases seen for a county that numbers less than 65,000 people.

Messaging from Sampson Regional Medical Center over the past week on social media has urged vaccinations, something not out of the ordinary since the beginning of this year. However, the messaging has transitioned in recent weeks and days from urgent to dire as hospital staff are simply exhausted, SRMC officials said.

"We have an 8-bed ICU and 12 ICU patients, nine of which are COVID," Sampson Regional CEO and Chief Medical Officer Shawn Howerton stated recently. "Of our 21 med/surg patients, a third of them have COVID. It has been a taxing strain on our staff to try and care for people and care for them safely, and not just for us — every downstream and upstream. There's no place to transfer, so you have people waiting to go elsewhere — these aren't just patients who have COVID; these are people having heart attacks, strokes and other things. That is our healthcare system. To say things are a bit of a mess across healthcare would be an understatement."

In a separate Sampson Regional Facebook post it stated simply: "Burnout is real. But we still vow to be there for you."

"Unlike restaurants, retail stores, and corporations — healthcare facilities don't have the option to close so their teams can recharge. Patient care teams across the nation are struggling. Patient care teams at #SampsonRMC are reaching their breaking point. We need your help to beat this pandemic ... to save one another and our #healthcareheroes. You CAN help. You can GET VACCINATED."

According to the NCDHHS, half the total population (50%) in North Carolina is fully vaccinated, while 55% has received one dose. Sampson's vaccinations trend well behind the state, at 41% fully vaccinated (25,940 residents) and 47% partially (29,628), as of Tuesday, NCDHHS statistics show.

To date, North Carolina has administered more than 10.6 million doses of the vaccine. Sixty-six percent of adults have received at least one shot, including 89% of North Carolinians ages 65 and older. Sixty-one percent of adults have been fully vaccinated. Vaccinations for ages 12 and up include 64% with at least one dose and 59% fully vaccinated.

Statewide COVID hospitalizations, as of Tuesday, were 3,779. Over the past two months, those hospitalizations have increased exponentially, as the state nears its peak hospitalization number, which occurred on Jan. 14, 2021, with 3,990 statewide.

The hospital also posted a video roughly 3 minutes long of a single healthcare worker's voice, with nothing but a black background for a visual and words popping up intermittently to emphasize what is being said.

"We thought we worked hard last year, but we had no idea of what was about to come," the voice, belonging to Kassie Johnson, RN, states. "This year, we are physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. After giving so much of us last year, we have nothing left to give, and it's still not enough."

Despite every effort, seeing patients unable to breathe and not being able to offer them the relief they need in some cases has been utterly devastating, Johnson states.

"We literally don't have the staff to care for all the patients who are sick and need to stay at the hospital," she says in the voiceover. "We are not just talking COVID patients. What if you got in a wreck, or you have a massive heart attack? We may not have a room to care for you. We can't keep going at the rate we're going now."

The Sampson County Health Department will host another vaccination clinic on Wednesday Sept. 8, at the Sampson County Agri-Exposition Center, located at 414 Warsaw Road, Clinton. The clinic will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointments are needed.

The department also held one on Sept. 1.

Howerton said as much recently, calling the predicament "historic" and "unprecedented" in every dubious way. It has fractured the healthcare workforce across the nation, and put a dent in Sampson's.

"We're short," said Howerton of staff, whether to attrition, sickness or turnover from those who said they are simply "done" with healthcare. "We had a nurse that just became a nurse within the last three months, that came into work and said 'I'm done with healthcare, I'm not going to be an RN anymore.' It's all related to trying to care for these patients in these troubling, difficult times. This patients are incredibly, incredibly sick."

NCDHHS recently released data showing that unvaccinated people were 15 times more likely to die from COVID-19.

Howerton and other health officials have continuously urged vaccinations as the community, and state, deals with the virus' more deadly Delta variant.

"We've now reached the peak we saw during the winter with no end in sight," Howerton stated. "The patients we're caring for now are sicker than those we cared for in the first wave, and tertiary care centers do not have open beds to accept transfers."

The state currently has 927 adults in the ICU with COVID-19. Approximately 17% of COVID-19 hospitalized patients statewide are on a ventilator.

In Sampson, due to the high volume of oxygen being used for hospitalized patients, ice accumulated over 8 inches around oxygen tanks last week. While normal, ice accumulation is normal building up at a much faster rate these days.

"Under normal circumstances, patients on oxygen require about 2-4 liters per minute," a Facebook post from Sampson Regional stated. "A single COVID patient requires 12-14 times as many liters per minutes. Needless to say, these oxygen tanks are working overtime."

Treatment/vaccine updates

On Thursday, Governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order to make it easier for North Carolinians to access treatment for COVID-19. The executive order authorizes and directs State Health Director, Dr. Betsey Tilson, to issue a statewide standing order to expand access to monoclonal antibody treatment, which if taken early can decrease the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death.

The order will be in effect through Nov. 30, 2021.

"Expanding access to monoclonal antibody therapy will help more patients across the state get this highly effective COVID-19 treatment," said Cooper. "In addition to getting more people vaccinated, we need to do all we can to save the lives of people who become infected."

The governor has previously directed, and affirmed the State Health Director's authority to direct, the issuance of statewide standing orders to facilitate COVID-19 vaccination and testing efforts, most recently in Executive Order No. 229.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reports that while they have seen an increase in the number of providers who are administering monoclonal antibody treatment, there is still limited capacity to administer this medication among the state's primary care providers and providers not associated with a health system.

According to the NCDHHS, a statewide standing order for monoclonal antibody treatment will make it easier for people with COVID-19 symptoms, particularly those with less access to a regular health care provider, to get this potentially life-saving treatment. Under the order, treatment could be provided in a medical supervised community setting, such as part of COVID-19 testing sites.

Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in a laboratory to fight infections, in this case, the virus that causes COVID-19, and are given to patients directly with an IV infusion or a shot. Some early evidence suggests the treatment can reduce the amount of the virus, or viral load, that causes COVID-19 in a person's body. Having a lower viral load may reduce the severity of symptoms and decrease the likelihood of hospitalization.

"We want to do everything possible to help people recover from COVID and keep them out of the hospital," said NCDHHS Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D.

While vaccines are said to provide the best protection from COVID-19, treatment options such as Monoclonal Antibodies are available if you have had symptoms of COVID-19 for 10 days or less or have been exposed to COVID-19. If taken early, they can reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death. For more information, ask your doctor or call the Combat COVID Monoclonal Antibodies Call Center at 1-877-332-6585 (English) or 1-877-366-0310 (Spanish).

The order received concurrence from the Council of State.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced that planning is underway to support booster shots for the general population. Boosters will likely be available beginning the end of September, pending full review and recommendations by the FDA and CDC.

People who received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines will likely be eligible, starting 8 months after their second dose. Research is still underway regarding boosters for Johnson & Johnson.

Additional doses of Moderna/Pfizer vaccines for Immunocompromised people and Boosters will not be offered by Sampson County Health Department until mid- to late-September. More information will be posted at www.sampsonnc.com and at clintonnc.com when available.

People can learn more about the state's vaccine distribution at myspot.nc.gov (English) or Vacunate.nc.gov (Spanish). Use NCDHHS' online tool Find a Vaccine Location to find a nearby vaccine site (also see related box). Call the state's COVID-19 vaccine hotline at 888-675-4567 or text your zip code to 438829 to find vaccine locations near you.

To find a testing site in your community, go to www.ncdhhs.gov/GetTested.