Page 7 - Healthcare News August 2021

As managing partner, Jim guided MBK through many transitions over the past decade. He was an active listener, preferring to lead through the art of asking thoughtful questions, a trait that his clients and colleagues appreciated about him.
When he walked into any room, people were drawn to his strong leadership, warm smile and sense of humor. He knew how to balance the stress of our profession with a funny story, a pat on the back or one of his famous fist bumps as he would make his rounds through our office.
Jim set a great example with his work ethic and desire to always improve MBK. His leadership contributed to MBK’s long-standing reputation as a leading professional service firm in New England.
Jim was a great leader, mentor, friend and brother to the entire MBK team. We will work to honor his memory for years to come.
330 Whitney Avenue | Suite 800 | Holyoke, MA 01040 | 413-536-8510 | mbkcpa.com 413-536-8510 | mbkcpa.com
AUGUST 2021 WWW.HEALTHCARENEWS.COM 7
COVID
Continued from page 5
Dose of Reality
Nationally, the outlook is concern-
i n g . T h e s i m u l a t o r s u g g e s t s a n a d d i t i o n a l 157,000 COVID-related deaths could occur across the U.S. between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, on top of almost 600,000 recorded through July.
The model projects approximately 20,700 COVID-related deaths in Texas, 16,000 in California, 12,400 in Florida, 12,000 in North Carolina, and 9,300 in Georgia during this period. In contrast, the projected number of COVID-related deaths would remain below 200 in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont, the top five states in vaccina- tion rate.
“These projections should serve as a warning sign, especially in states that could have higher daily COVID-19 deaths than their previous peaks,” Jagpreet Chhatwal, associate director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Technology Assess- ment and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, wrote as lead author of the simulation analysis. “We also hope that our projections can help policymakers bring back mask mandates and further advocate for COVID-19 vaccines.”
Co-author Jade Yingying Xiao, a PhD student at Georgia Tech, noted that, if re- cent estimates of the reproduction number of the Delta variant are correct, the team’s model implies current levels of social dis- tancing are reducing transmission by 30% to 40%. However, she added, “we can easily foresee this number dropping as we move ahead into the fall months with schools and colleges reopening.”
It’s inarguable, Roose said, that vac- cination rates within communities closely parallel COVID’s human impact.
“Now, at least seven states are seeing surges of hospital cases surpassing any of the prior surges at any point during the pandemic. That’s telling — considering this pandemic has infected millions and millions of people — that so many unvac- cinated people are being hospitalized so many months later.”
Take Mississippi, for example, where COVID is raging well above any 2020 level. According to tracking from the New York Times, Mississippi ranked second among states for both most cases and most deaths per 100,000 over one week in mid-August, and third in hospitalizations. The state also ranks next to last among both the percent- age of the adult population who have re- ceived at least one dose of the vaccine and the percentage who are fully vaccinated.
So, Massachusetts’ much higher vaccina- tion level — 74.1% with at least one dose and 64.9% fully vaccinated (both ranking
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second nationwide) — lends its residents a measure of protection that Mississippi (44.1% and 36.2%) doesn’t have. Even so,
the statewide figure of almost 65%.
“Our efforts will continue to encourage
all eligible individuals to be vaccinated,”
he told HCN. “There remains a significant, albeit shrinking, number of people who have not yet accepted the vaccine, and closing that gap will help our communities, particularly as more variants or more infec- tious variants may circulate through the
r e s t o f t h e s u m m e r a n d f a l l m o n t h s . ”
Vaccine boosters may be an important part of the state’s strategy to keep infections down as well, he said.
While some may be surprised by the
Please see COVID, page 51
What we’re seeing is that people who are vaccinated
may contract COVID, but
it’s less severe, with fewer deaths and hospitalizations.”
COLLEEN DESAI
Roose said, it’s no time to get complacent. That’s especially true in Hampden County, whose vaccination rate of 51% lags behind