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An Austin public health nurse (right) speaks to a community member at an ISD vaccine clinic in Austin in May (Photo by Jana Birchum)
With on-campus learning just beginning for most of the Austin area’s school districts, local health officials are already seeing the impact on COVID-19 numbers. “At this point we are seeing an increase in the number of cases,” said health authority Dr. Desmar Walkes at a joint briefing before the city council and Travis County Commissioners Court earlier this week.
Last fall, most campus reopenings were delayed by weeks in the wake of the summer surge in Texas, and there was a nationwide masking order so transmission between and within schools in central Texas was relatively low. This is not the case this back-to-school season. In July and August, Austin Public Health saw more COVID cases than ever in patients under the age of 18 as fewer people wore masks over the summer and the highly transmissible Delta variant arrived in Austin. Between July 1 and August 22, 90 patients under the age of 18 with COVID-19 were hospitalized in the Austin metropolitan area of five counties; almost half of them were 12 years or older and could therefore be vaccinated. Of these 90 adolescents, 26 required intensive care; one stays on a ventilator. “Let me repeat: masks stop the spread of COVID-19, so it is important that our children who rely on us to protect them,” are sent to school with masks, Walkes said.
“This situation is very surreal because what is happening in our hospitals is very, very worrying, and what happens outside the walls of the hospitals is in many cases very normal.” – Health Department Dr. Desmar Walkes
Most local public schools, including Austin ISD and Austin Community College, still require a mask; The largest local district, Lake Travis ISD, will discuss the matter tonight at what is expected to be a highly controversial board meeting. Legal challenges to Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order banning such mandates continue to be enforced by the Texas Education Agency while the courts rule. District Judge Jan Soifer’s existing restraining order expires on Sunday, and a coalition of Texas school districts and counties and parents from Travis County are filing a separate lawsuit against the ban. District Judge Catherine Mauzy held a remote hearing on the case Monday to consider an injunction with Walkes testifying.
These litigation has become a matter of urgency as local hospitals are filled with (unvaccinated) COVID-19 patients like never before. As of Tuesday, 646 patients were currently admitted to local hospitals for COVID-19. Existing intensive care and ventilation patients have also achieved all-time highs. This resulted in preparations for an alternate foster home at the Travis County Exposition Center for patients in need of less intensive care; A previous ACS at the Austin Convention Center was demobilized this spring as the local COVID crisis temporarily subsided.
However, Walkes said the focus remains on staffing increases in the local hospitals as more details on the ACS are worked out. “This situation is very surreal because what is happening in our hospitals is very, very worrying,” said Walkes. “And what happens outside the walls of the hospitals is, in many cases, normal business.”
Recent federal rulings, including recommending a third dose of booster vaccination for vaccinated individuals and full approval of the Pfizer vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have raised concerns in the community and elected officials that Austin will not be ready to meet the growing growth demand for vaccines. At the moment, immunocompromised individuals, such as those receiving chemotherapy who have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, are entitled to a booster dose; the general public will be eligible from September 20th. It is recommended that the booster dose be given eight months after the second dose.
In contrast to the strained and uneven roll-out of vaccination earlier this year – when APH was more or less the only provider for all of Travis County – vaccines and booster shots should be readily available this fall, Adrienne Sturrup, interim director of APH, told councilors and commissioners. “Because there are several providers in the community – and the Booster APH does not have to act as a hub provider – we do not expect the same rush for our services as in January.”
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