By Karen Kier

Pharmacist on behalf of the ONU HealthWise team

Our frontline workers are in need of a respite from the pandemic. The Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post conducted a survey of our frontline workers to assess the impact that the pandemic has had on their physical and mental health, as well as the impact on their families. The survey results represented 1,327 frontline workers with direct contact with patients and a control group of 971 adults in the United States that did not work on the frontlines within health care. The survey showed that the pandemic has taken a toll on these frontline workers and their families. Three out of 10 healthcare workers considered leaving the profession from burn out and stress related to the pandemic. Of the respondents, 62% worry about the negative impact that COVID-19 has had on their mental health. They report problems with sleeping (47%), frequent headaches (31%), and increased use of alcohol or drugs (16%) to deal with the difficulties of the job. Over 30% of the healthcare workers felt that they needed mental health services because of the pandemic. Prior to the outbreak of the delta variant, the results showed 6 out of 10 workers felt some optimism that we could get COVID-19 under control with vaccinations.

Why is this information so important right now? This reminds us as COVID-19 cases across the country increase in all 50 states, that our frontline workers are vulnerable again to these serious consequences. When do the frontline workers get to recover from taking care of our country? Many news outlets are running stories about the increase of pressure on our healthcare facilities and workers caused by the rampant delta variant. In addition, last week, the country saw its first case of the lambda variant that was discovered in Houston, Texas. The lambda variant is widespread in South America and Central America. Peru is suffering large numbers of COVID-19 cases related to the lambda variant and the variant has been identified in 29 countries around the world so far. The major weapon to control the spread of COVID-19 is to increase our vaccination rates. More vaccines are being sent to countries in South and Central America in response to the lambda variant.

Our frontline heroes are a major contributor to the science of the COVID-19 vaccines and deserve some recognition for allowing studies to be completed in real-world settings to determine the effectiveness of the vaccines. On July 22, 2021, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study abbreviated HEROES-RECOVER. HEROES stands for the Arizona Healthcare, Emergency Response, and Other Essential Workers Surveillance Study and RECOVER is the Research on the Epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in Essential Response Personnel. The networks for these prospective studies were started in July 2020 and involved various frontline workers in six states. So what did we learn from our HEROES to help us RECOVER?

The study involved 3975 essential workers between December 14, 2020 and April 10, 2021 who had various levels of COVID-19 vaccination status. Within the study’s surveillance system, 204 workers were detected to have a SARS-CoV-2 infection (5%). Five of those 204 were fully vaccinated (14 days after the second shot) and 11 infections in those partially vaccinated (14 days after the first shot) were recorded. Of the unvaccinated essential workers, 156 infections (76.5%) were identified. The overall vaccine effectiveness was determined to be 91% for those fully vaccinated and 81% for those partially vaccinated. This study evaluated mean viral load. Viral load is a measure of how many virus/viral particles are circulating in the blood after being infected with SARS-CoV-2. In those vaccinated, the viral load was 40% less than the unvaccinated participants. This lower viral load translated into 58% lower risk of fever and a shorter length of illness by 2.3 days. The conclusion of the HEROES-RECOVER study was that in a real-world setting of working adults that the vaccines are highly effective while protecting those who get infected by reducing viral load, COVID-19 symptoms, and the duration of illness. Protecting from severe illness reduces the risk of developing long-term COVID-19 symptoms, as well as stresses on the healthcare system including ICU beds and emergency room visits.

If our HEROES have not taught us enough about courage and sacrifice during COVID-19 and other emergencies, let us learn from the study the benefits of getting vaccinated. I am proud of our ONU HealthWise heroes and our efforts to educate and protect against COVID-19. Talk to your heroes! Feel free to call the ONU HealthWise Pharmacy or talk to your health care professional. ONU HealthWise is offering walk-ins for COVID-19 vaccines. Call the pharmacy to get more information on how you can get vaccinated.