Tennessee’s top disease experts are split on President Biden’s recent statements declaring the COVID-19 pandemic “over” 30 months after the once-in-a-century scourge began and claimed the lives of more than 1 million Americans, including nearly 28,000 in this state.
The Tennessean spoke with a number of leading experts on the novel coronavirus, including those who led the state’s response effort.
Some agreed with the president’s assessment, noting that infections and hospitalizations have stabilized at low levels for months. Others, including physicians, note that hundreds are still dying every day in the United States and that Tennessee has among the lowest vaccination levels in the country.
Biden made his remarks on COVID-19 during an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sept. 18.
“The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden said during the interview in Detroit. “But the pandemic is over.”
According to the Tennessee Department of Health, newly reported cases of COVID-19 have dropped from increases seen during the deadly waves last winter and during the summer of 2021, statewide and in Davidson County. But it’s important to note that this data does not include people who do not get tested or those who do not report home testing.
The Tennessean, which has been posting weekly updates on COVID-19 infections, deaths and hospitalizations throughout the pandemic, has determined it will now halt such weekly reports until further notice.
Dr. Lisa Piercey, who served as the Tennessee Department of Health commissioner during the height of the pandemic, agrees with Biden’s view.
“I’m glad to hear President Biden finally acknowledge it. Since early on, we have known that COVID would eventually become endemic, and that is what has happened over the last several months,” Piercey said. “That’s not to say the virus isn’t still circulating and causing devastating disease in some vulnerable individuals, but it means that the emergency is over and our daily lives are no longer disrupted by COVID-19.”
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Piercey, who stepped down from her post in May, told The Tennessean in a previous interview that the virus is likely to circulate in the population for years, if not decades. One of her goals as health commissioner was to convince a skeptical public to get vaccinated — a goal that, she admits, wasn’t fully realized.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 63.5% of Tennesseans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccination. That makes the state the 45th worst in the nation for getting the shot. Only the states of Indiana, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming had lower vaccination rates, according to the CDC.
Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the former top vaccination official at the state’s Department of Health (who was fired in 2021 amid clashes with state lawmakers over vaccination outreach efforts), said it’s not Biden’s place to declare the pandemic over.
Fiscus said she worries that the pandemic could flare up again this fall. She also notes the continually rising death toll.
“Immunity is waning because people are not getting booster vaccines,” Fiscus said. “While we’re in a time of welcomed improvement, we’re not out of the woods.”
Death is not the only risk from COVID-19. Many, maybe as many as 40% of those infected, suffer symptoms of so-called “Long COVID.” They include shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, palpitation and mental health impairments that can last days, weeks, months or longer.
Dr. Sapna Kripalani, who leads Vanderbilt University’s Long-COVID Internal Medicine Clinic, said she worries about the impact of Biden’s message.
“We continue to see over 50,000 thousand confirmed cases a day, and numbers are likely much higher since most people are testing at home, or not testing,” Kripalani said. “I’m concerned that people will drop any precautions they may be taking, which will lead to the next significant uptick in numbers, and the next variant is likely just around the corner as we head into winter months.”
Alex Jahangir, Nashville Metro’s former COVID-19 Task Force leader and an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, takes a middle-ground view. Jahangir recently published a memoir reflecting on the chaotic first year of the pandemic.
“While we are definitely in a different, less lethal phase of this pandemic, people are still becoming ill, experiencing long-term impacts and dying daily from this virus,” Jahangir said. “We need to remain vigilant and ensure everyone continues to get tested, get vaccinated and get treatment as appropriate. We may be done with COVID, but COVID is not done with us.”
Frank Gluck is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @FrankGluck.
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