DENVER (KDVR) — As the United States transitions into the third year of the coronavirus pandemic, White House officials feel confident the country has more tools than ever before to keep Americans safe.
While Colorado is seeing some of the lowest COVID-19 case and hospital levels since the start of the pandemic, across the country wastewater levels are indicating some communities are seeing levels start to creep up, after months of steady decline.
Bloomberg News cites wastewater data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reporting that more than a third of wastewater sample sites across the country are seeing rising levels.
“The wastewater data is certainly a really helpful addition to what is happening nationally,” said Senior Advisor for the White House COVID-19 Task Force Dr. Cameron Webb. “It certainly doesn’t tell the full story, but it tells part of the story.”
While wastewater data from Colorado doesn’t tell the whole story, only a handful of communities like Silverthorne and Aspen are seeing a slight uptick in wastewater COVID levels, according to state data.
“Not yet a cause for alarm, but a cause for ongoing vigilance,” Webb said.
The White House released its full COVID-19 Preparedness Plan this month, with steps included to protect against and treat COVID-19, prepare for new variants, prevent further shutdowns and vaccinate the world.
With the COVID-19 omicron variant becoming the dominant variant in Colorado and across the country, the White House plans to work with Congress to ramp up vaccine manufacturing capacity and accelerate research to create a variant-specific vaccine.
“It’s important that you raise the idea of variant-specific vaccines because those are a very important strategy should we need to develop one,” Webb said. “Should we see one of the variants evade the immunologic response of the vaccines, then we in short order need to create a variant-specific response.”
Webb said it’s crucial that Congress supplies funding for this research and manufacturing in order to have the proper tools to meet what could be a more contagious and effective variant.
The White House is just a week into rolling out a new Test and Treat program across the country, including more than 20 locations in Colorado. They are mainly King Soopers stores with built-in health clinics so providers can write prescriptions for anti-viral drugs immediately after a person tests positive to lessen the impact of COVID.
Webb said that’s not the only way people can get tested and treated, but it does have the value of creating a one-stop-shop.
“A lot of people can go to their primary care providers, their usual source of care, can get tested, identify that they need treatment and those providers can send a prescription to local pharmacies and we know we have tens of thousands of pharmacies who are offering these oral anti-virals.”
As Colorado shifts into the next phase of the pandemic, the state is rolling back on mass vaccination sites and shifting more focus on vaccinations through smaller local clinics and primary care.
While the current levels are encouraging, Webb said we’re not out of the woods yet.
“I always encourage people to pump the brakes on calling it an endemic quite yet,” Webb said. “Endemic means you have somewhat predictable levels of disease spread, those could be high levels, it could be low levels, within a defined geography. I wouldn’t say we’re there just yet.”