Bassett Healthcare Network Lifts Mask Requirements in Most Care Areas COOPERSTOWN Bassett Healthcare Network announced today that masks are no longer required for patients, visitors or staff members across most areas of the health system. “Bassett’s experts in infection control, incident command, employee health, and other areas have been diligently reviewing COVID-19 community transmission rates weekly,” said Dr. Tommy Ibrahim, president and chief executive officer of Bassett Healthcare Network. “They have been looking for a sustained trend of decreasing transmission…
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Column by Richard Sternberg, M. D. Diligence Called for, Now More Than Ever Again, just when it seemed we reached the point where we can go out with people and decrease our use of masks, COVID strikes back and possibly with more virulence than previous strains. The number of new strains to consider is large. New strains include BA.5.2.6, BA.4.1.9, BE.1.2, BA.4.7, BF.13 and XBB, among others. Already BA.5 and BA.4 strains have high penetrance in the U.S. The new…
Column by Dr. Richard Sternberg New COVID Vaccine Offers Broader Protection On Wednesday August 31 the FDA authorized, for emergency use, two new, bivalent, COVID vaccines. Bivalent means that each shot contains two variants of the vaccine. The following day the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommended the use of those vaccines and the same day, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the committee’s recommendations for use of updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages…
Weekly Medical News September 8, 2022 General The CDC reminds us that, a Newsroutine annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all persons aged 6 months and older who do not have contraindications. For each recipient, a licensed and age-appropriate vaccine should be used. With the exception of vaccination for adults aged 65 years and older, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) makes no preferential recommendation for a specific vaccine when more than one licensed, recommended, and age-appropriate vaccine is available.…
Weekly Medical News September 1, 2022 Editors note: The following is a compendium of medical news items and releases we found interesting over the last 10 days. Please let us know your thoughts on this feature at info@allotsego.com. General Information The CDC announced that it will make major changes to how it operates following what it admits was a failed response to COVID-19, monkeypox, and polio. Director Rochelle Walensky stated “my goal is a new public health oriented culture that…
Column by Dr. Richard Sternberg Monkeypox Vaccines There are several things to remember about the current monkeypox outbreak for those of us in Otsego County. According to the county health department website on Monday, there are no cases identified locally. Vaccine for monkeypox is not available locally. After checking the New York State Department of Health website (www.health.ny.gov) it appears that the closest location for vaccine is Albany County. I would suggest if you qualify for the vaccine and want…
COVID update December 6, 2021 There are 32 new COVID cases reported today, according to the Otsego County Department of Health. In total, there are 333 active cases in Otsego County with 10 hospitalizations and no new deaths reported.…
COVID breakdown for August Staff Report • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com Otsego County had an increasing number of COVID cases in August. Community transmission is considered high. According to the Otsego County Department of Health (DOH), there 380 total cases in August with 52% unvaccinated and 48% vaccinated. Everyone hospitalized due to COVID, a total of six people, were unvaccinated individuals, including the two most recent deaths locally from the virus. The majority of cases occurred in people between the ages…
Editorial Playing Russian roulette with kids Just as the country thought it was safe to get rid of masks, COVID-19 has made a sudden, startling comeback. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the seven-day moving average of new cases for the week ended Aug. 6, stands at nearly 123,000 per day. The Associated Press has reported more than 44,000 people were hospitalized in the U.S. last weekend, a 30% increase from the prior week and four times the number…
CDC and Otsego County Department of Health recommend everyone wear masks indoors, including the vaccinated STAFF REPORT • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com The Otsego County Department of Health released a press release on Wednesday, Aug. 4, that said Otsego County was considered by the CDC to be at a “substantial level of community transmission”, and that they now recommend mask wearing indoors, even for those who have already been vaccinated. Otsego County is currently at 50.5% vaccinated for adults, which is…