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00:00 - Good morning. 00:01 Welcome and thank you for joining us 00:03 for our Northern Light Health 00:04 Business to Business Zoom conference. 00:07 Today, our theme is Vaccine Hesitancy, 00:09 Myths, Misinformation, and What We Know Now. 00:14 The pandemic has been very dynamic. 00:16 We will provide you with the latest information, 00:19 recognizing that it is a continuously evolving situation. 00:24 We are now into our fifth month of vaccinating people. 00:27 While people of all ages may be hesitant 00:30 to receive a vaccination, 00:32 we are seeing a drop-off in demand 00:34 as vaccines have been made available 00:36 to everyone 16 and older. 00:39 We'll take a look at the current status 00:41 of COVID-19 and vaccinations. 00:44 And with this as a platform, we'll explore vaccine hesitancy 00:47 with our panel of special guests and experts. 00:51 I'm Dr. Ed Gilkey, Senior Physician Executive 00:54 at Northern Light Beacon Health. 00:56 I'll be your moderator for the next hour. 00:58 Our panelists today are Dr. Melissa Maginnis, 01:03 a virologist from the University of Maine, 01:07 Dr. Elizabeth Marnik, 01:09 an immunologist from Husson University, 01:13 Dr. Jim Jarvis, a physician leader and clinical leader 01:17 for mass vaccinations at Northern Light Health. 01:21 And our other special guests today are Remi Geohegan, 01:26 Tanisha Gilbert, and Emily McLaughlin. 01:31 They are community members who will share 01:33 what they are hearing and seeing in their communities. 01:36 Before we get started, I will read our legal disclosure. 01:41 The coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing, 01:44 continuously evolving situation. 01:47 Northern Light Health encourages everyone to follow 01:49 federal and state governmental guidance and mandates. 01:53 Northern Light Health does not know 01:55 the particulars of your situation, 01:57 so the information presented today is general in nature 02:01 and it's based upon Northern Light Health's own experience, 02:04 which may or may not apply in your specific situation 02:08 and which may be revised 02:10 as we learn more about the coronavirus. 02:12 Accordingly, following any guidance 02:14 Northern Light Health presents today 02:16 in no way guarantees that you, your employees, 02:19 and/or your customers and clients 02:21 will not contract or spread the coronavirus. 02:25 A reminder, this hour is for you. 02:28 If at any time you have a question 02:30 for one of our panelists, please use the chat function. 02:33 I'll keep track of your questions 02:35 and have our speakers respond. 02:37 Also, I hope each of you will take a few minutes 02:41 immediately following this hour 02:42 to answer our quick five-question survey. 02:45 Your input directly affects our topics 02:48 and helps guide our future conferences. 02:51 I'll start us off with some updates. 02:57 Looking at the entire world, 02:59 we recognize that new cases per day and deaths per day 03:04 have been increasing over the last two weeks. 03:07 You'll note that in the lower right corner 03:09 where it says 14-day change. 03:13 Vaccinations worldwide have been quite variable 03:16 between countries and continents on the next slide. 03:20 Keep in mind that the rate for a two-dose vaccine 03:24 to fully vaccinate everyone 03:26 would be 200 doses per 100 people. 03:30 This graph helps us to understand 03:32 what has been achieved worldwide 03:34 during the first five months of vaccinating people. 03:39 Now, let's take a look at Maine. 03:41 We pay very close attention to the new hospitalizations. 03:46 This is not a rate, but an absolute number. 03:48 Looking to the right of the graph, 03:50 we see a rising slope and that's that orange line. 03:54 And we also know the average age of the patients 03:57 being hospitalized is getting younger. 04:02 On the next slide, the two graphs represent the data 04:05 in the table to the left. 04:07 What you see is that most of the positive cases 04:11 are in the younger age group, so that's the blue bars, 04:14 and most of the deaths are in the older age groups. 04:18 We have known this from the beginning. 04:20 What's different is we are seeing people 04:23 in the younger age groups dying. 04:26 Two people in their twenties died 04:28 in the last several weeks in Maine. 04:30 While one had an underlying condition, 04:33 this was felt not to contribute to the person's death. 04:37 Looking at Maine and vaccinations, 04:40 Maine is doing relatively well 04:42 with getting people vaccinated and is in the lead nationwide 04:47 for percentage of people with a final dose. 04:51 Please note that these numbers reflect 04:53 the entire population of Maine, 04:55 so that 39.19% will be a little bit different 04:59 than if you just look at eligibles only. 05:02 And you can see that this graphic, 05:04 most of the vaccinations have been done 05:07 in the older age groups. 05:11 Now, I want to touch upon PASC, 05:14 also known as post acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, 05:20 or Long COVID, also known as Long Haulers Syndrome, 05:24 post-COVID syndrome, and long-term COVID. 05:31 The clinical manifestations are listed 05:33 and you'll note in that grouping of manifestations, 05:36 they hit all organ systems. 05:39 Many of you probably have heard of COVID fog. 05:43 This is an impairment of thinking 05:44 during the weeks and months of recovery 05:47 that is thought to be an effect on the brain 05:49 caused by the virus and falls into this PASC category. 05:54 PASC occurs in upwards of 30% of people, 05:59 notably people with mild disease 06:02 and people in the younger age groups. 06:05 There's many examples across the country 06:07 of athletically fit people in their twenties 06:10 who go from being capable of running marathons 06:13 to barely being able to balance and walk. 06:17 PASC is becoming more known, 06:19 however, it is a severely under-recognized consequence 06:24 without a clear end. 06:25 Does it last three months, six months? 06:28 And it's affecting all ages and health status. 06:32 The final point on this slide is a quote 06:34 from Johns Hopkins University Medicine Group. 06:38 Prevention is the best way to avoid COVID complications 06:42 via following the precautions of masking, distancing, 06:47 hand-washing, and vaccinations. 06:50 This collection cannot be overstated. 06:54 So, this pandemic is almost over, right? 06:59 Let's take a quick look at what we know now. 07:03 First, worldwide cases and deaths per day are increasing. 07:08 New variants with unfavorable characteristics 07:11 are emerging across the globe, 07:12 and we've spoke about these variants in prior sessions. 07:17 Vaccination rates are variable 07:19 across countries and continents, 07:20 and quite a few of these continents is quite low. 07:25 Maine hospitalizations are increasing modestly. 07:30 Herd immunity may occur at 70 to 85% vaccination rate. 07:36 Maine is best in class of vaccination rate 07:39 at approximately 40%, so you could see the gap, 07:42 not only for Maine, but around the country and the world. 07:49 Prevention is an important tool. 07:53 And then highlighted here in bold, 07:56 achieving herd immunity is the global strategy, 08:00 one person at a time. 08:05 So let's transition to our round table discussion 08:10 with that platform in mind 08:11 and we'll discuss vaccine hesitancy. 08:14 We'll start off. 08:15 Dr. Maginnis, please introduce yourself 08:17 and share why today's topic interests you. 08:24 - Good morning. 08:25 My name is Melissa Maginnis 08:26 and I am an associate professor at the University of Maine. 08:29 I am a virologist and I've been studying 08:31 how viruses infect cells and cause disease 08:34 for the past 20 years. 08:36 And over the past year, I have served as the lead 08:38 of the UMaine system COVID-19 Science Advisory Board 08:41 and I'm delighted to be here today 08:43 to help provide answers to questions about SARS-CoV-2 08:47 and the vaccine. 08:48 I believe that vaccination is our best defense 08:50 against COVID-19 transmission 08:52 and the best way to get back to the state of normalcy. 08:56 - Thanks, Dr. Maginnis. 08:58 Dr. Marnik, please introduce yourself 09:00 and also comment on your interest in this topic. 09:04 - Hi, everybody.