Is the pandemic really “over?” Next steps with COVID-19

Emma Wozniak
Tue, 29 Aug 2023 23:25:18 +0000
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Ohio State adapted their COVID-19 vaccine, testing and policies this year amid lower reports of cases. Photo credit: Owen Milnes | Lantern Photo File

As March 2020 feels increasingly like a distant memory with each passing day, for many, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a lingering thought of the past.?

Though it has slipped away for some, rules and resources surrounding the virus continue to adjust at Ohio State, including the university no longer requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty and non-hospital staff as of April 24. With this, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said this change — among others — to testing on campus does not change recommendations to students on staying safe.

“The university continues to encourage all campus community members to stay up to date on vaccinations as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Johnson said in an email. “The vaccine is available at our student health center and at the Wexner Medical Center.”

The drop in attention toward COVID-19 has coincided with fewer recorded cases. Mahdee Sobhanie, an infectious disease physician who worked closely with COVID-19 patients at the Wexner Medical Center, said he’s observed decreasing hospitalization rates since vaccines were released to the public.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that COVID is any weaker than before,” Sobhanie said. “It just means that the vaccines and then previous exposures has definitely helped build our immune system so we don’t get as sick as we did before.”?

Sobhanie declined to comment on how the Wexner Medical Center felt about the university’s decision to lift its vaccine mandate.

“What I would say is that I think the vaccine has been incredibly helpful in preventing rises in hospitalization, preventing severe illnesses in our patient population, but no, I can’t comment specifically on that,” Sobhanie said.

Before the vaccine mandate was lifted, Johnson said the university also decided to end in-person asymptomatic testing that can be scheduled through MyChart in January with input from the Wexner Medical Center.

“The widespread availability of vaccines and at-home testing has significantly decreased demand for asymptomatic testing,” Johnson said. “Because of the limited use, the asymptomatic COVID-19 testing locations have closed.”

Up until the date before publication, the university website contained inaccurate information that may have led to some confusion amongst Ohio State students. Within hours of The Lantern contacting the university, the website was updated to contain accurate information about on-campus testing resources.

The university still distributes take-home COVID-19 tests at the Ohio Union and Younkin Success Center.

With the lifting of the vaccine mandate and changes in testing, both Sobhanie and Johnson said they encourage students to be conscientious of their health and listen to their doctors.

Though Sobhanie said society is definitely in a “better place” with the COVID-19 virus than before due to the prevalence of medication and vaccines, he said he is hesitant to agree with many who say the pandemic is “over.”

“It’s just that we’re in a new phase of COVID-19, and the phase that we’re in is trying to continue to monitor the situation as it goes on, as well as make sure that our medications work,” Sobhanie said.

Thanks to ongoing clinical trials, Sobhanie said the Wexner Medical Center has two medications — Remdesivir and Paxlovid — that can treat the COVID-19 virus, specifically for diabetic, obese or immunocompromised patients.

Sobhanie said the university is currently conducting a clinical trial to develop a medicine that can be administered to lower-risk individuals, which can hopefully be used to prevent the spread of the virus instead of just combatting its symptoms.

“The clinical trial was called A5407,” Sobhanie said. “If anybody’s diagnosed with COVID, you can always give us a call at 614-293-8529 to see if they would qualify for this study.”