‘Number of hospitalizations is slowly creeping up’: Weekly Check-in with TTUHSC’s Dr. Michelson
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Every week, ABC-7 anchor Mauricio Casillas will speak to Dr. Edward Michelson. Dr. Michelson is the chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine for Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso.
Here's the Q&A for Jan. 28:
Mauricio Casillas (KVIA): How has this past week gone for you?
Dr. Edward Michelson (Chairman, Dept. of Emergency medicine TTUHSC El Paso): "This past week has been a very good week. We're seeing more El Pasoans now getting the vaccine. As of this morning, we're up to around 64,000 who have received at least one dose and almost 15,000 have received both doses."
Casillas: Can hospitals handle the current number of patients?
Dr. Michelson: "Hospitals are able to handle the current number of Covid-19 patients, however in the last two weeks we've increased about 100 in the number of patients with Covid-19 in El Paso hospitals."
Casillas: What should people at home be doing right now?
Dr. Michelson: "We really have to be careful even among our family members. I can't tell you how many patients I've personally cared for that have been one of several members of the same family, all of whom had Covid-19. They probably got it from each other. Some of them did well, some of them ended up in the hospital quite sick."
Casillas: What is the most eye-opening thing you’ve seen this week?
Dr. Michelson: "Johnson & Johnson is in testing with their version of the Covid-19 vaccine. It has some distinct advantages. First of all, it's a single dose. You only need one dose. If we would've had the J&J vaccine, we would already have 64,000 people fully vaccinated. The second thing that's encouraging is that it doesn't have to be frozen. It only has to be refrigerated. This will make distribution much easier. We expect to see results from a 45,000 patient trial in about a week."
Casillas: What is your prediction for next week?
Dr. Michelson: "The number of hospitalizations is slowly creeping up. I hope to see that reverse. I hope the number of hospitalizations false back to under 400 and the number testing positive goes down."
Casillas: What is giving you hope at this time?
Dr. Michelson: "El Paso is doing a great job of getting our citizens vaccinated. If we could only get more vaccines. My other big source of hope is the potential of a third vaccine being available soon."
Casillas: What is your message to the Borderland?
Dr. Michelson: "We really have to be careful that our students don't get Covid from each other and bring it back home to our families."
