Dr. Michelle Morse, MD, MPH, chief medical officer and deputy commissioner of the Center for Health Equity and Community Wellness in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, spoke with the Amsterdam News for a Q&A about the status of the COVID-19 pandemic, preparation for the holidays and long COVID. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AmNews: Where are we with respect to COVID-19 right now?
Although there have been a lot of confusing conversations, I would say…we are still in a pandemic and the COVID pandemic continues to be a massive priority for all of us in public health. Where we are currently in New York City specifically is that we have seen a slow rise in cases of COVID over the past several weeks, and we have really tried to get the message out to providers and our health care partners as well. It’s happening at a time when we actually have more tools than we have ever had to prevent COVID, both in terms of…severe cases, as well as severe outcomes. [We] have more options than ever in terms of treatment…at this point, some folks may not be aware that unfortunately, we are still seeing deaths from COVID in New York City.
We have more tools than ever to prevent [deaths and hospitalizations] from happening, so the updated COVID boosters and the bivalent boosters are essential for the prevention of severe disease that can lead to hospitalization and death. We also have multiple different treatments that are available for people who do test positive for COVID.
I’m not sure how clear it is to everyone that the bivalent booster—the updated booster—the new booster…is a new version of the vaccine. I think folks need to understand that what’s so new and exciting about the booster is that it actually responds to what we’re seeing right now. It is your best bet to protect yourself and your family and your community from severe disease from COVID-19.
We’re also seeing that there is circulation of other viruses at the same time that we remain in the pandemic.
AmNews: There is a persistent myth that the COVID-19 primary series of vaccines are irrelevant. Can you speak about this?
It is a myth—you’re correct. The primary series is still extremely impactful and in some ways, I would say that it’s the on-ramp to full protection from COVID-19. It’s kind of the first part of priming your body to be prepared to fight COVID effectively and it’s still very important for folks who have never had a COVID vaccine at all. That primary series is going to be what gets your body ready to fight COVID. It is not at all useless at this point. In fact, it’s how you prepare your body to get to be ready for the booster vaccine. So that’s definitely a myth. The primary series is still very impactful.