Hello and welcome to PBS39d WLVT.

Our community update on coronavirus.

It's presented by Capital e Cross and bught to you with help from our community par Lehigh Valley Health Netwo.

We are coming to you live m the Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Our guests today include an infectious disease doctor o has served as a resource ad answered our questions in e past.

Also with us to someone heg community agencies connect volunteers with projects in need.

Our guests will be with usn just a few minutes.

If you have a question, ple give us a call.

The phone number is four et four eight two one zero zeo zero eight.

We'll answer some of your questis live plus four Dai Korona virus updates.

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter.

You can do that at our webe Coronavirus Lehigh Valley.

Dog.

You'll find helpful informn there in both English and Spanish.

Now let's take a look at today's top headlines.

An advisory panel of the Centers for Disease Controd Prevention is weighing wher Johnson and Johnson Covid-9 vaccine should be distribud in the US New guidance is expected within the hour.

The vaccine has been on hod more than a week after a possible link to a handfulf recipients who developed bd clots.

Earlier this week, European regulators allowed the rolt after concluding the benefs of the single dose vaccine outweigh anyisks.

Pennsylvania has more than3 million people who are fuly vaccinated against Covid-1, with almost half of the eligible population receivg at least a first dose.

The State Department of Heh today reported another 4188 coronavirus cases and 59 me deaths, according to the C. Pennsylvania ranks within e US for total doses adminisd and 10th for total shots gn by percentage of populatio.

And Pennsylvania plans to expand its network of vacce providers as demand beginso slow and existing providers order fewer doses.

Acting Health Secretary Aln Beam says, with supply finy catching up to demand.

She expects more providersl be receiving shipments in e next few weeks.

The state had cut the numbf providers by more than two thirds in an effort to spep the vaccine rollout.

It's time now to meet our guests for the day Dr Luthr Rhodes is an infectious die specialist at Lehigh Valley Health Network who has held guide our region throughoue pandemic.

Also with us is Karen Smit, chief executive officer ofe Volunteer Center of Lehigh Valley.

Thank you both so much for joining us today.

Karen, we will be with youn just a few moments.

We're going to begin todayh Dr Rhodes.

Dr Rhodes.

As always, it's great to he you.

Thank yo It's great to be here as always.

It seems like we're at we'e kind of reaching a tipping point, right?

We just heard about the ste reaching out to more vaccie providers and supply finaly catching up with demand, somethin we've talked a lot about on this show.

So what's your read on allf this?

Are we beginning to reach w stage in confronting this s and so what's next?

Well, definitely we're makg progress and it will be grt when the vaccine gets intoe usual channels and place tt people go for vaccines to r doctor's office, etc.

We're moving in that direc.

I'm encouraged, too, by the increasing acceptance of vaccine.

The initial people initialy interested in getting vaccinated have in many cas come forward.

We have a high 80 to 90% in some areas of the high risk individuals already vaccin.

But there is a significant minority of individuals stl on certain need to be reassured.

I take I am pleased to seet the word is spreading often from people successfully vaccinated to their friend, their relatives and so on.

And that's encouraging peoe to come forward.

But I think when we the ear we make it for people, for anybody to get vaccinated,e more people that are goingo get vaccinated.

Dr Luther Rhodes despite af these people getting vaccinated, we're still seg case counts go up and we he been for the last few week.

What's behind that kind of surge Gamma Well, we have e nowhere near the big surgee saw several the surge we've seen in the past, but we're still at what Dr Phil fromr situation calls as well and many more if not continue t downward slope.

So I can tell you in my own experience, I see patientss an infectious disease physn every day practically who e Covid pneumonia and who ist that's getting Covid pneuma Gamma In my of the cases is individuals in their 40s ad 50s and 60s.

It's a recurrent theme.

I see people who in many respects feel that they'ven doing everything they can o prevent this.

They're startled as to howt could happen.

Some tell me that they felt confident because their pas are vaccinated.

So they somehow felt in soe cases that it was OK for t. But it's not.

We all need at all ages neo to get vaccinated.

And I think in part it is t factor of maybe we've incrd our interaction, but I'm ag believer in viruses do ther own thing.

I know we'd like to take credit, so to speak, in medicine and in general wed like to be able to say we control what really what a virus is.

But I think it's more than that.

The flu vus, for example, s disappeared.

Essentially, it seems will disappear.

But if it were purely becae of precautions people take since we know we people dot take precautions, flu has l disappeared.

So I think a lot has to doh viruses have sort their owy of behaving.

We can Moderna that we cane things worse.

But we have to give a virua little bit of room to sortf do its thing.

The best thing we can do as game is game that relationp by being vaccinated.

So there is no room for the virus to spread.

That's why we don't have p. That's why we don't have widespread measles and so .

We vaccinated.

We don't let the virus be e virus Dr Luther Rhodes.

Is this a new age group of people that you're seeing n increase in cases with tha0 to 50 age range?

I know in the past, you kn, in the very beginning it ws people older than 50 who we coming down withovid-19 thn it was kind of the younger people, the 18 to 25 age g. Is this a new age group ths kind of developing Covid-1r has this been steady throut the entire pandemic Gamma , I think it's somewhat new,t least in my world is is the forties and 50 year olds wo are getting hospitalized because prior to that the seniors 70s and above, so o speak, were much quicker te hospitalized.

They had so many other medl conditions, but I sti see a significant number of peope that prime of their working careers, professional cares and parenting major times y are stuck in a hospital and very disappointed and so o.

So there are significant conseqnces.

The Gorn the virus has been spreading in young, healthy people for the entire duran of the pandemic and barely visible.

There are very few pediatrc admissions, very few pediac severe Covid infections ant there's a moderate amount f Covid in young people.

But when you get into the , 40s, 50s and so on, the unpredictability of of a Cd virus, is it can that be if a very vicious virus in any individual and causes significant amount of daman a short period of time?

That's why it's best avoidt all ages.

That sounds scary and very concerning.

And you mentioned hospitalizations.

Can you talk to us about capacity at LVHN right nowd what it's like now compareo other points during the pandemic Gamma Well, the capacity is being stretchea bit.

You know, again, we've lead valuable lessons over the t your and you're plus now in this country has to be much more efficient with the handling, if you will, the admissions of a patient, te medication start boom, boo, boom, People are often in d out faster.

So we're better able to hae that.

Fewer people go on ventila.

Doctors have learned a lotf valuable lessons.

So we're not stretched to e max, but we certainly are k and busy and like everybod, we're getting tired that wd like to to wrap this up and move on.

But we have a health respet for what's going on.

This is still a crucial interview Minersville.

This is not a time to sette back and let things go to chance.

We have valuable resourcesh vaccine and the precaution.

I wouldn't minimize the precautions, but I think we have a tool that is so vale that to to sort of taming n otherwise unmanageable kinf aoe here with the Covid-19.

Sure.

Dr Luther Rhodes we have a caller question here.

This is from Carolyn in Philadelphia.

She says her daughter in ls going to have a baby soon.

The graparents are fully vaccinated, so she wants to know how careful they haveo be when they're going to se this new mom, a new baby.

Do they need to wear masksd social distance or can they cuddle?

That baby is Carolyn's quen here?

Well, what is the other vaccinated?

Do we know Gamma She did nt say whether she would.

We're not sure if she's vaccinated or not.

But can you give us both scenarios so.

Well, a couple things.

One, if the mother fully vaccinated, which is safe d pregnancy is safe and lactg women to take the vaccine,e antibodies cross to the bay and to baby milk babies.

Not so.

So it's safe.

So I wish I hope she's vaccinated.

If not and the grandparente the parent or are fully immunized.

It is safe for but I wouldy Waymart does it wear a mask common sense but visit its Albright again if it's OK h the mother and that is reay the final the final Staci z comes fromom and dad.

So Dr Luther Rhodes gives a thumbs up to visiting.

Just be a little bit on the safe side air on the side f caution of course.

And Dr Rhodes, I just wanto point out a preliminary sty by the CDC shows that Pfizr Moderna those vaccines, thy pose no serious risk during pregnancy.

So is this a significant sp to getting more people vaccinated?

Would you say Gamma Absolu.

I think I mentioned once be to major hospitals, one in Boston, one in Chicago, published compelling information that not only s vaccine is safe in pregnan, but that the antibodies tht the mother develops cross o and protect the baby and ao or is in breast milk.

So that's as safe as they n get.

The obstetricians, the pediatricians, the general practitioners, infection specialists advise women wo areregnant that it's safe o get Covid vaccine Dr Luther Rhodes.

We have another caller quen and this is something I knw we've been talking about ad the office as well.

This person is asking and saying many of my friends e experienced a reaction and after the second dose, so w soon after getting the secd dose of the vaccine do youl effects and can you go abot your day?

Should you plan on going at your day, either the day or the day after getting that second vaccine Gamma Well, first, the observation is t it does appear there's a hr rate of of reaction after r some symptoms after the sed vaccine.

But it's actually indicatig that the vaccine is takingd it's usually advised to dey safety.

I've told people five, six, seven days and I was sort protect the week after.

I wouldn't necessarily taka second vaccine and then goa week long or we don't go to busine meetings any more wk long.

But I wouldn't do any any significant travel or anytg where you can't rest and sn for about a week after the vaccine just to be careful, realizing that every second after that second vaccine,r immune system is is getting closer and closer to full protection.

Wonderful.

Thank you for answering tht one.

Dr Rhodes.

And let's talk a little bit about booster shots.

We've heard we may need thm come the fall when it comeo these vaccines.

What do we know about boosr shots?

And is that because of the variants at this point?

Well, it's will stay tuned.

As they say, the head PfizI think made a comment in a podcast about a booster beg needed, but that's not at l worked out.

I think the what's that information emerges.

It'll be much more clear.

We won't have to speculatet I wouldn't bank on it.

But frankly, if the informn comes out that we benefit m a an additional vaccine to date, there's no there's no guidance to do that.

I don't Mulvaney even peope who have had immune system weakness, they get vaccina.

There's no guidelines now o get yet another vaccine.

So possible.

The variants, though, do sm to be covered by the curret vaccines.

We keep hearing that if ths exceptions, we'll hear that too.

But I haven't heard that yt convincingly at all in Dr Luther Rhodes when it comeo getting vaccinated, about f of us adults are vaccinate.

But we heard at the beginng of the show that the demanr vaccines is slowing.

So is that a good sign?

A bad sign?

Where do we stand on gettig the nation vaccinated and d of having herd immunity Gaa good question.

The challenge, a different problem, a different set of problems from trying to get everybody who wants a vacce to to those who aren't so .

So that's why we keep on tg to lead by example of and e hope people who have receid vaccine can themselves bece advocates for friends, relatives who are a bit bee people will trust the soure they know I believe and alf we make it easier to get vaccine, a lot of hesitanc.

I see the vaccine as people people's fear of signing ur something, registering for something.

That's aesitancy not everybody can appreciate.

But it's a significant blon some communities to proceed with vaccine, not concern t the vaccine, per say, but r that registering in some fashion is going to comproe their freedom and so on.

We have to be sure.

I would like to see a no ft minimal if any requirementr registration for vaccine if that were possible, I realy would I think it wouldncree the take of vaccine.

So St Luke's and Dr Luther Rhodes, if you could just t out before we let you go ty how easy it is to registerr a vaccine through LVHN, tht woulbe wonderful.

Well, they're great pathwas for those who want to follw the pathway registering and almost all health that wor.

It's pretty easy to do.

But I think globaly when we look outside networks of pe hesitant to sign up and register, the reasons come down.

A lot of times a distrust a system we have to we are te people are working on that every day.

I've worked on it and have impressed others have to we have to make sure we breach that barrier of concern bee it won't help if we have 2f the population that just wt come forward for vaccine.

It will not.

But we're going to jam ourselves up if we don't se that, reduce any barrier to vaccine and make it as eass possible.

Dr Luther Rhodes from Lehih Valley Health Network.

As always, we really appree you weighing in on these ts today.

Thank you.

Have a good day.

We continue this community update coronavirus on PBS3.

You can hear the rebroadcan the radio tonight at nine n 91 three WLVT.

.

Now let's bring in our next guest, Karen Smith, who les the volunteer center of the Lehigh Valley, an organizan that connects the nonprit d businessommunities.

And like many of us, has bn on a roller coaster ride fr the past year.

Karen, welcome.

Thank you so much for joing us.

Thanks for having me, Brit.

I appreciate it very much.

Absolutely.

Volunteerism in the Lehigh Valley.

How has the pandemic affecd it?

Are we seeing more or fewer people stepping up with all that's going on in the word today?

Well, let me kind of take s back a little bit.

March of last year sort ofn everything shut down.

And I think really what wee seen is it's a culminationa number of factors.

So what didn't happen in te pandemic was nonprofit organizations that are dirt service to the community ta break.

Then in fact, what happenes they had ramped up requires of their services and theyd more people to serve and hr to access the people they e trying to serve.

So there was a lot of facts around sort of what the nes were.

The other factor that you h in there is that a lot of e organizations could not alw for volunteers to come in.

And at the same time, a lof our volunteer base, when yu think about it, seniors map a very large contingent ofr volunteer base and they int were the most vulnerable population and the one that would be the least likely o come out.

So it's sort of you put all those factors together that really created this kind of need for number one, staffg within the nonprofits to ry step up.

I heard Dr Rhodes talk abot being weary and tired and people are worn out.

Nonprofits have been workig nonstop and the staff has really had to fill a lot of those gaps in order to cone to do what they do in the community.

So we've seen kind of that shift.

We have continue to see, however, volunteers that he come out that ve said we're coming out no matter what.

And there's organizations, whether it's meals on Whee, Second Harvest, a lot of te shelters, they've continueo see some of their core volunteers come out and thy still had to limit the numr of people that would be ald to be involved with their organization.

Sure.

Karen, are you still seeine same thing as you sawast spring or is it getting ber because vaccinations have started ramping up Gamma Se other factor that's happen, it's positive for us is tht the weather is getting oute yesterday and this morning the weather was getting be.

So we have been seeing a lt more opportunity to be outs and once you create that outdoor element, it's a grt opportunity for people to e out and to be socially distanced and protected frm one another.

And it's also a time wherea lot of the nonprofit organizations,hen you think kind of not so much the delivery of meals or food access, but when you starto think about organizations t have outdoor activities, ts like that, there's a lot of cleanup going on.

There's a number of communy gardens that exist in our Lehigh Valley.

So there's opportunities to come and help organizationo the cleanups.

You'll see some the images coming through where theres been tree plantings, things like that, where people fel safe coming out.

So we are starting to see a little trend on that.

I also I'm a huge trail hir and I love to see the peope out cleaning up the trailsd that happens year round.

So that's another great opportunity.

So we are we're starting te a little bit of uptick, but we're also still continuino see those boundaries where people are really trying to keep it close to the chests not being out and not being exposed.

Sure, it looks like you stl have events ongoing througt the winter and into the spg season.

Now, what are some the protocols that you have in place that you have to usen you're sending out some of these volunteers?

So literally really focusin the CDC guidelines and makg sure that those guidelinese understood and mandating ad keeping a firm line on sayg this is these are the requirements.

You do have to wear your m. You do have to follow the protocols if you want to be here and be involved with e organization.

And again, so we're the volunteers and we're basicy sending out those volunteeo the nonprofit organization.

And we the expectation is e nonprofit organizations are adhering to those guidelins and making it safe for the volunteers to come in.

Karen, you talked a littlet about the struggle for for nonprofits and that's someg we've talked about a lot oe show.

So also, what are you seein that side of things when it comes to fund raising the financial side of a nonprot Gamma How has the volunteer center been impacted by th?

Well, I will tell you, we'e been fortunate in the sense that we've been able to my favorite my least favorited is Telford, but we've beene to pivot programs.

And I will tell you that te Lehigh Valley is blessed wh so many amazing donors and supporters that have really kind of just said, we're gg to stick with you and we're going to help you in whater way we can.

So programing has definitey changed the opportunity for certain up like funding sos has looked differently this year as far as how we're tg to generate funds.

But I do I'm thankful for e Corps organizations in our community that continue to support the nonprofits.

So there is that continued support.

But the galas that come together, events, the tickt prices, the silent auction, raffles, things like that, ose have all taken definity kind of a back door to whas happening with the pandemi.

And we recently saw the Und Way raised a record amountf money this year over $18 million.

million.Is that what you'r?

People are really steppingp to to pitch in and help eah other out during this terre last year?

If I do say so, So people everybody has that mindsetf wanting to support the organizations and I think t the mindset that we see ist there is a there's an incre in the ability and the opportunity and the desireo support organizations financially, which is grea.

And I also think there's te opportunity for individuald organizations to even kindf take another shift, if you will, and think about skils based volunteering and beig able to support organizatis in a different way than the done in the past by providg those skills that can then shore up different aspectsr a nonprofit, whether it ben leadership and mentoring,e lookt it from the strategic planning, marketing and sol media.

There's a lot of those asp.

So there's so many ways wee seeing people wanting.

So that desire has never hs never Tim Murtaugh and pple are really hoping to be abo come out and to do somethi.

And so it's the burden hasn on the nonprofits we've ben trying to work with the nonprofits to really educae them in different ways that they can engage their volunteers and engage to support their community.

And it takes it does just e anything else.

When you have to shift or change, it takes morwork.

change, it takes morwork.Bd it's just a matter of being intentional as far as how u can do that.

Sure.

So is the volunteer centerf the Lehigh Valley looking r volunteers at this point?

Do you need more people to pitch in?

We do and again, we're the funnel.

So we're the funnel out toe nonprofits.

The nonprofits are startino really think about how then engage volunteers.

And as I said, there's outr opportunities.

Their summer programing ths starting to happen.

There's some things that ce done virtually for organizations.

So we are starting to see a little bit of an uptick.

It's not anywhere near whae would have seen prepend wht comes to volunteer opportunities.

But we definitely have stad to see more organizations starting to think about how they can engage and what tt would look like for them ad for the volunteers.

If someone is interested in volunteering, how do they t involved?

Sure.

So the best thing they cano is to reach out to the volunteer center either directly on our website, wh is volunteer LVG.

And so the nonprofits in te community will post their opportunities.

They can also reach out tos directly, let us know what they're thinking about, wht kind of interest they haved we can do those connection.

I kind of tell people I use term sort of Match.com.

We're the ones that are gog to bring the volunteers, connect them to the nonprot and make that relationship happen.

So we're definitely that conduit.

And so any time people have that interest, whether it's their kids, whether groupsf volunteers looking to get engaged, we definitely wano see that happen.

Wonderful.

Karen Smith from the volune centerf the Lehigh Valley.

Thank you so much for joing us with all this really valuable information.

Thanks for having us.

Absolutely.

We want to thank our guestr being with us today and wwt to thank you for joining ur Community Update.

Coronavirus will be here am each Monday, Wednesday and Friday on PBS39 and on the radio at nine 30.

Those same nights on WLVT Arnoux.

We'll be back on Monday atr to talk about the virus and vaccine with Allentown heah director Vicky Kessler.

If you have a question, ple leave it at our website, P. Big on social media or youn give us a call and leave it there.

The phone number is four et four eight two one zero zeo zero eight four PBS39 Gordn WLVT News.

I'm Brittany Sweeney have a