Dr. David Fairchild, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Minute Clinics and Senior Vice President of CVS Health, joined the LeadingAge Coronavirus Update Call on November 17, 2021. He responded to questions from Ruth Katz and from callers. The interview is summarized here:

Q: How would you grade the level of success on getting the country vaccinated?

A: I think it is nothing short of miraculous the way that so many have worked together to get people vaccinated. And now, wear providing booster shots and have begun vaccinating children. LeadingAge members and others have done a really good job getting vaccinations to people who live in congregate settings. At CVS we have provided 10 million COVID vaccinations, but still have a long way to go. There has been misinformation that has hampered vaccination efforts. However, we are also seeing the development of oral treatments that will likely also be game changers.

Q: What are your thoughts on herd immunity? What should we know?

A: The Idea of herd immunity is that it occurs when there are sufficient people with immunity that the virus has difficulty finding hosts. The number I have seen recently is that we need to be at 85% or greater to reach that point. In the meantime, we need to keep working on vaccinations, boosters, and other precautions.

Q: We know that many people are still not willing to be vaccinated. What are your perspectives on hesitancy?

A: I appreciate that anything new makes people nervous. Three billion people globally have gotten the vaccine and it is well-tolerated and effective. The other types of vaccinations such as measles, tetanus, DPT and others that we all get are lucky to be as effective as the COVID vaccines. If people are worried that COVID might do something to them, it might be helpful to realize that an unvaccinated person is 11 times more likely to die with COVID than those who are vaccinated. The science supports the idea that we are all better off if we are vaccinated.

Q: Please tell us more about breakthrough infections. If vaccines are effective, why are we seeing breakthroughs?

A: Some people will say that if there are breakthrough infections the vaccines don’t work. Experts know that immunity to coronaviruses doesn’t last forever, which is similar to flu. Whether through natural or vaccinated immunity, that immunity begins to taper off and the very contagious variants like Delta take advantage of that. It seems likely that we will need regular boosters. It is also the case that vaccinated people with breakthrough infections are less likely to be hospitalized or die even if they do contract the virus.

Q: Are we likely to continue to see new variants?

A: Yes, that’s what viruses do – they create variants as they replicate. We have to anticipate that this pandemic will have a long tail. The more that we can do to not give virus it hosts, the more we can reduce replication and hence variants.

Q: How is CVS involved in providing boosters?

A: There are three ways in which we can be helpful. 1) if a facility has its own capability to administer vaccines, Omnicare can provide the doses and help with some of the reporting; 2) there is also the opportunity for CVS to bring booster clinics onsite depending on availability and distance; and 3) individuals can also come into CVS Minute Clinics to receive booster doses.

Q: Is it possible for people to get flu and COVID booster shots at the same clinic?

A: The CDC says that is acceptable and safe. One would probably want to get the two shots in different arms. Children can also receive both flu and COVID vaccines. There is lots of good science and research on the safety of the vaccine for children. Getting the vaccination is safer than the small risks of serious COVID sequelae, and also minimizes the risk of children carrying the virus to older adults.

Q: What is your sense of where we are going with the pandemic? What should we anticipate?

A: Smart people that I am reading and talking with are thinking that this virus is not going to just go away, and we see that rates are going up again. Wearing masks, regular vaccine boosters, and other precautions are likely to be our new normal. We will have to find our way along and it will be interesting.