Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

February 4, 2022

Doctors express ‘cautious optimism’ about easing pandemic in Chamber talk 

COVID panel members, clockwise from top left: Dr. Suzanne P. Lagarde, CEO Fair Haven Community Health Care; Dr. Mark Silvestri, chief medical officer at New Haven’s Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center; Dr. Steven Choi, chief quality officer at Yale New Haven Health System, and Garrett Sheehan, president and CEO of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.
By Liese Klein

“Get ‘em. That’s really it.”

Get your booster shot for COVID-19, that is, said Dr. Steven Choi, chief quality officer at Yale New Haven Health.

Choi was among three physicians Friday advising members of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce at a virtual event on the status of the pandemic.

“What have you been waiting for, you should absolutely get it,” Choi said of the booster, adding that even those who have had cases of COVID can benefit greatly from the additional immunity provided by vaccines. 

“Cautious optimism” was the theme of the event as the experts noted the recent decline in COVID cases in Connecticut after an Omicron-fueled peak in January.

“The optimism is well founded — there’s good scientific merit that we’re going to slowly transition to an endemic phase of COVID,” Choi said. 

Endemic means that the virus will stick around in the community but no longer cause significant illness and death in the vaccinated population.

As the pandemic subsides, workplaces should still follow guidelines on masking and social distancing, the doctors agreed. Employers should also trust in the results of home tests and not send workers for additional PCR testing to avoid additional exposures and long lines at test sites. 

“We’re living with COVID, we have to balance with all of the other risks we take in life,” said Dr. Mark Silvestri, chief medical officer at New Haven’s Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center. 

Employers can help minimize economic impact and get the population to “herd immunity” by encouraging workers to get vaccinated and boosted, the experts agreed. 

“We would certainly encourage businesses to do whatever they can to encourage their staff to get the booster shot and to talk about the safety and the efficacy of it,” Silvestri said. 

Only about a third of people eligible for boosters in the state have gotten the shot. In addition, only 17% of eligible kids ages 5-11 in New Haven have gotten fully vaccinated, said Dr. Suzanne P. Lagarde, CEO Fair Haven Community Health Care.

“That’s a scary number to me,” Lagarde said. Her clinic and other public health officials have reached out to local clergy to convince parents to agree to the vaccine. “At the end of the day this is essentially about trust,” she said. 

Yale New Haven Health saw 150 kids admitted with COVID-19 infection in January, most unvaccinated and many needing life support, Choi said. 

In addition, some young people infected in the first wave of the virus are still suffering life-altering “long COVID” health effects after nearly two years, Choi said, with symptoms including severe fatigue, brain fog and inability to exercise or otherwise function. 

The pandemic is also having a devastating economic impact in New Haven’s lower-income communities, Lagarde said.  

“We're seeing that among our patients every day,” Lagarde said of economic losses. “It’s upon us.”

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF