Tuesday, June 6, 2023 | 2 a.m.
For most healthy people, the threat of contracting COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror. Sure, we may unconsciously keep a safe distance from the person in front of us in the checkout line. But, for the most part, life has returned to normal.
Yet COVID-19 continues to circulate in the U.S. including a new Omicron variant known as XBB.1.16 that emerged in India and accounts for more than 14 percent of new COVID-19 cases here.
Thankfully, diagnosed cases of COVID-19 are at comparatively low levels. For the week of May 4-10, Nevada had 640 cases of COVID-19, down 13 percent from the previous 14-day period. And, while 64 percent of Nevadans have received the primary series of vaccinations, according to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting of federal Centers for Disease Control data, only 13 percent have received the bivalent booster, even though it’s equipped to specifically target the dominant omicron variant.
Granted, the many-booster recommendations over the past couple of years have become confusing. As a result, every subsequent booster has had a poorer uptake rate. After all, we’re up to the sixth booster. Who could blame anyone for not keeping track of when it’s time to roll up our sleeves again?
Nevertheless, medical experts like Karen Duus, professor of microbiology and immunology at Touro University Nevada, advise that “vaccines continue to be the most important tool in our arsenal to avoid severe illness and death from COVID-19 especially among high-risk groups such as those over 65 years of age and those with weakened immune systems.”
That’s why Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights advocacy nonprofit, has renewed its efforts, with assistance from a grant extension from the Southern Nevada Health District, to encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community to stay up to date on vaccinations and boosters. Silver State Equality is using the grant funds to continue its bilingual public education and community outreach campaigns to connect LGBTQ+ Nevadans with the resources and support they need to access COVID-19 information, health care, testing, medical treatment, vaccinations and boosters.
The LGBTQ+ community was hit hard by COVID-19 primarily because of underlying health disparities and economic vulnerabilities. LGBTQ+ people face higher rates of comorbidities such as HIV and cancer, are more likely to use tobacco products, are less likely to have health insurance and are less likely to access care when they are sick out of fear of discrimination.
With regard to what is referred to long-COVID-19 effects on the LGBTQ+ community, the latest Household Pulse Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau reports more than four in 10 transgender adults who have had COVID-19 have suffered enduring symptoms. Trans adults were also most likely to have debilitating symptoms. Among those for whom the impact of their experience with long COVID was known, 97.5 percent faced a reduced ability to carry out day-to-day activities to some extent, compared with 84 percent of cisgender men and 78.2 percent of cisgender women.
So what will boosters look like in the coming months and years? The Food and Drug Administration has suggested that, for most Americans, the booster could be given annually like the flu vaccine, and high-risk individuals could still receive multiple doses a year.
In the meantime, the CDC’s new simplified guidelines for COVID-19 vaccinations recommend that individuals 6 years of age and older be given the updated bivalent vaccine moving forward, regardless of previous vaccination status. The update also makes a recommendation for those over the age of 65 and immunocompromised individuals to receive another bivalent booster, even if they already got one last fall. Children 6 months and older can now get their vaccines. A new booster is expected to come out in the fall that will target the most recent variants.
To put it simply, if you’re 65 or older or immunocompromised, get vaccinated and get your booster shots. They are still free and easily accessible.
André C. Wade is the state director of Silver State Equality.
