Zients clarifies during the briefing that 100 million people have gotten their second shot, still gotta wait the 2 week period to be "fully vaccinated."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 30, 2021
At the University of Kansas Health System, infection control specialist Dr. Dana Hawkinson recently attributed some of the testing drop to "COVID weariness," as people just assume they have the virus and don't get tested unless their workplace requires it.
"I definitely see over the last month more and more people refusing tests," said Stuppy. "Whereas at the beginning they were upset that we couldn't offer a test. I think the tide has definitely changed."
It's not clear how common it is for parents to refuse the test for their children, say representatives of pediatric associations in Kansas and Missouri.
But on Tuesday, Stuppy tried to gauge the situation among her fellow pediatricians on Twitter.
"Is anyone else finding a significant number of parents refusing COVID19 testing when their kids have symptoms? I'm seeing it more and more. So frustrating!" she tweeted.
Some of the responses she got:
"Yes including a parent who is a pediatrician. I just can't anymore."
"Not necessarily refusing but I will (note) that I do a lot more explaining now about why we still have to test than I did 6 months ago."
"Not many are refusing BUT it's certainly a hard sell at times (esp. when we have a pretty low percent positive rate in our area right now)."
"Haven't had many declining testing, but I have quite a few that come in on day 4-5 of symptoms, having been in school/daycare up until that point."
"This is why the pandemic will never end."
"Parents are concerned that if another child, or their child, is diagnosed with COVID that will put kids into quarantine, it will upset their school schedule, their recreational schedule, the parents may have to adjust their work schedule," said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine in the health policy department at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
"So they're saying 'Well, he's going to get over it anyway. Let's just not make the diagnosis, and we don't have to go through all that hullabaloo.'
"That's beyond unfortunate. That's selfish. And it's not in the public interest, it's in your own narrow interest. It's not in your child's best interest."
Dr. Angela Myers at Children's Mercy said the hospital has seen a recent uptick in other viruses, including common colds and a couple of cases of respiratory viruses in the last week. She, too, is hearing that some parents are refusing COVID-19 testing.
"It is important to get tested if you have symptoms compatible with COVID-19 so that the appropriate actions can take place if positive," said Myers, division director of infectious diseases.
There is no vaccine yet for children younger than 16, though Children's Mercy is part of a national trial testing for one for younger kids.
Stuppy uses the PCR test, considered the "gold standard" in detecting if someone has an active infection.
"We don't do the one that you stick all the way back to the brain," she said, exaggerating just a bit. "We just (swab) the anterior nose, so it's not traumatic for most kids. Most of the time it's just a tickle in the nose.
"One of my patients said it felt like a caterpillar crawling up her nose."
Like Schaffner, Stuppy thinks parents are turning down tests because a diagnosis would require them to change their behavior — if they follow public health advice, that is, which she knows not all have done.
"I think they're forgetting the component of then we need to isolate," if a child tests positive, said Stuppy.
"They're coming in with cough, sore throat, and parents want them tested for strep but they don't want them tested for COVID. ... They only want something they can treat."
Meanwhile Harris County is going to spend $250,000 to buy tchotskes to give to people who come in for a vaccination, because rates of vaccination are falling.
We're so screwed.
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