HARLINGEN – It’s the holiday season, and once again hospitals are filling up.
While the reasons for this increase are varied, they are at the same time related to COVID-19.
Lack of access to health care during the pandemic means preventative medicine was put on hold. That lack of access meant patients delayed medical care, and that meant health issues worsened.
Result? More hospitalizations now.
Nurses suffering burnout have left hospitals, meaning fewer staff to tend patients. Many of those patients are unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.
Locally, an influx of Winter Texans has expanded the population of those over age 65, and that group is especially vulnerable to COVID complications.
Dr. James Castillo, Cameron County health director, wants to make everyone aware of local clinics administering monoclonal antibodies to alleviate COVID-19 symptoms.
“I’m concerned that Winter Texans don’t necessarily have access to local primary care,” he said. “So, when they get COVID, I really want to make them aware of access to monoclonal antibodies whether they’re vaccinated or not.”
As Winter Texans return to the Valley, local businesses are enjoying a much-needed boost after the financial agony of this time last year. Many of those visitors from up north haven’t experienced a surge of the Delta variant and haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“My message is not to shame anybody into getting a vaccine,” Castillo said. “If you’re over 65 and you get COVID, vaccinated or not, you should definitely consider getting monoclonal antibodies.”
Late last year as the monoclonal antibody treatments became available, governmental entities set up infusion centers to treat COVID-19 patients. Those infusions relieved over-burdened hospitals by alleviating COVID symptoms so that patients didn’t need to be hospitalized.
Those infusion centers have closed, but private clinics throughout the Valley are available to serve that critical need.
“If you don’t have a doctor you can reach out to locally, my message to them is, ‘Hey, reach out to us at the Cameron County Health Department so we can get you access to monoclonal antibodies,’” Castillo said. “That way if you do get COVID, whether you’re vaccinated or not, there’s a treatment out there.”
Monoclonal antibodies can reduce hospitalizations by 70 or 80 percent, and that means fewer deaths.
“I don’t want to see anybody ending up in the hospital, but I’m concerned the Winter Texans are really vulnerable because of their age,” he said. “They haven’t been in parts of the country that already had a Delta surge, they might have just skipped it so they are vulnerable.”
Many of those winter visitors may have come from areas that are less vaccinated than the Valley, but he emphasized that the Valley, while it has a high rate of vaccination, does not have herd immunity.
“If they’re unvaccinated, or even if they are vaccinated, it’s still spreading,” he said. “If they are over 65, that’s a high-risk group for getting hospitalized. If they get COVID, I would love to make sure that they know there is access to monoclonal antibody treatments. They need to reach out to their doctors. If they don’t have a local doctor, they should reach out to the Cameron County health department so we can help get them access. That’s how we’re going to save lives and keep people out of the hospital.”
The Cameron County Health Department can be reached at (956) 247-3650.
