Healthcare Advisory: COVID-19 Updates for Providers

Note: This advisory is for healthcare professionals. To read public health advisories, visit kitsappublichealth.org/news/categories/advisories

Actions Requested

• Be aware, on March 4, the WA Dept. of Health (DOH) discontinued ordering of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 vaccine due to extremely limited inventory at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Washington Immunization Information System (IIS). Providers are encouraged to post and look for excess doses in the Vaccine Advertisement Page in the IIS. Email DOH questions and concerns to COVID.vaccine@doh.wa.gov.

• Be aware, DOH has updated guidance for healthcare settings. Key updates include:
  

  • Residents not up to date with vaccines with exposure should quarantine for 10 days or 7 days with a negative test.

  • Persons with COVID-19 should not visit healthcare settings for 10 days.

• Updated DOH guidance:

  • Interim COVID-19 Outbreak Definition for Healthcare Settings.

  • Interim Guidance for Long-Term Care: Transferring between long-term care and other healthcare settings.

  • Preventing transmission of SARS-COV-2 during aerosol generating and other procedures.

  • Long-term care facility testing for staff and residents.

  • Recommendations for cohorting in long-term care facilities during a COVID-19 outbreak.

  • Outdoor visitation guidance for long-term care settings.'

• Strongly recommend patients get COVID-19 vaccine. You are patients’ most trusted source of vaccine information.

• Educate patients on how to access, use and interpret at-home antigen test kits.

  • Direct patients to COVID-19 testing sites in Kitsap County and Kitsap community drive-through testing sites. Note that community drive-through site days and locations are being reduced due to low demand.

  • Advise patients to order tests from:

    • WA state government atwww.sayyescovidhometest.org or by calling 800-525-0127. Check back if tests are unavailable. This site is restocked frequently.

    • US federal government at www.covidtests.gov or by calling 1-800-232-0233.

COVID-19 Situation Update

As of March 8, Kitsap County has had 38,785 cases of COVID-19 and 321 deaths from COVID-19. Our seven-day case rate of 86.7 per 100,000 shows a consistently decreasing trend over the past week. During the week ending February 26, we had 46 new COVID-19 hospitalizations among Kitsap residents. In the past 180 days, unvaccinated people ages 12-59 were

5.9 times

more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than those fully vaccinated;

3.5 times

more likely for those age 60 and older. As of March 3, 77.0% of Kitsap County residents have initiated vaccination. Over 90,000 (33.1%) Kitsap residents have received an additional or booster vaccine dose. As of March 3, only 35% of children aged 5-11 have initiated vaccination. All subcounty areas of Kitsap County have at least 70% vaccination initiation rates among those age 12 and older. Differences in vaccination initiation rates persist across race/ethnicity groups, the gap between highest and lowest rate is 41%. The chart below shows our most recent case rate, vaccination rate and COVID-19 cases trend over time:

Resources

• COVID-19 vaccine clinical considerations, CDC

• COCA call slides, CDC.

• Epidemiology of myocarditis and pericarditis following mRNA vaccines in Ontario, Canada, Buchan, et. al.

• Booster dose updates, FDA

• Emergency use authorization (EUA) fact sheets for recipients and caregivers:
  

  • Pfizer/Comirnaty.

  • Moderna/Spikevax.

  • Johnson & Johnson.

• COVID-19 vaccine locator, DOH.

• COVID-19 vaccine for providers, Kitsap Public Health District.

• COVID-19 vaccine provider toolkit and resources, DOH.

• COVID-19 vaccination for providers, CDC.

• Clinical considerations for COVID-19 vaccination and guidance for managing anaphylaxis, CDC.

• COVID-19 vaccine quick reference guide for healthcare professionals, CDC.

• COVID-19 vaccine training module on best practices for providers, CDC.

• COVID-19 Case, Hospitalizations and Deaths by Vaccination Status, DOH.

COVID-19 testing

• K–12 test requirements to return to school, DOH.

• Antigen test guidance, CDC.

• For help with questions or accessing resources, contact Kitsap Public Health at (360) 728-2235.

COVID-19 therapeutics Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocates monoclonal antibody and oral antiviral supplies to each state. DOH distributes doses to enrolled providers. Providers must enroll in Healthcare Partner Ordering Portal (HPoP) to manage COVID-19 therapeutics. Email mcm@doh.wa.gov to register for HPoP training, held Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

• To find available doses in your area, see HHS’ COVID-19 therapeutics locator.

• To request a supply of monoclonal antibodies or therapeutics, complete a smart sheet.

• Find more resources in the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody therapeutics communication toolkit or on DOH’s therapeutics for providers page.

• Follow NIH COVID-19 treatment guidelines.

COVID-19 prevention patient education Share with patients:

• What to do if you test positive for COVID-19.

• What to do if you were exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Contacting the Health District

• Call (360) 728-2235 and leave a message. Includes reporting notifiable conditions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Leave the patient’s name, date of birth and disease.

• Fax (360) 813-1379

Additional Resources

• KPHD COVID-19 page for healthcare providers.

• Washington COVID-19 risk assessment dashboard.

• CDC guidance for healthcare providers and facilities.

• KPHD COVID data dashboards.

• DOH COVID-19 data dashboard.

• DOH COVID-19 page.

• CDC COVID-19 page.

• SARS-CoV-2 sequencing and variants in Washington