With cases surging, medical professionals in Oklahoma have heightened concern about the Delta variant of coronavirus.
Transcript
Dick Pryor: This is Capitol Insider, your weekly look inside Oklahoma politics, policy and government. I'm Dick Pryor with eCapitol news director Shawn Ashley. Coronavirus cases are surging across the United States. CDC documents disclose the Delta variant is highly contagious and more transmissible than smallpox and Ebola and just as transmissible as chicken pox. Health professionals are alarmed. And today, our guest is Dr. Mary Clarke, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association. Dr. Clarke, welcome back to Capitol Insider.
Dr. Mary Clarke: Thank you for having me. Always happy to be here for you.
Shawn Ashley: Dr. Clarke, in the medical community, how high is the concern about the Delta variant?
Dr. Mary Clarke: On a scale of one to ten? Ten. It wouldn't have been a big deal, really, if we had more people vaccinated but the combination of low vaccination rates and the increase in the transmissibility makes this a pretty deadly combination.
Dick Pryor: Oklahomans twelve and older - those who are eligible for vaccination - of those, 47.6% are fully vaccinated, according to the State Department of Health. How high does the vaccine rate need to go in Oklahoma?
Dr. Mary Clarke: Eighty to eighty-five percent. That's pretty much what we consider herd immunity. And that's the point where enough people are vaccinated that the risk of spread is low enough. So, we have a ways to go.
Dick Pryor: What happens to us if the vaccination rate doesn't go up significantly?
Dr. Mary Clarke: We continue to have outbreaks and spreads. And the most important is you continue to have new variants being produced all the time. That is the biggest issue. That is the most concerning down the road long term.
Shawn Ashley: Eight months ago, when we last talked, you mentioned some of your patients had concerns about the vaccine, which was then not yet even approved for emergency use. And you suggested there might be some vaccine hesitancy. Why are so many Oklahomans today refusing the vaccine?
Dr. Mary Clarke: There's a lot of different things that go around that, but there's a misinformation conspiracy that's a vocal minority. The vast majority of people know that they probably should be vaccinated and know that there probably will be a time that they're going to be required, but they're still a little hesitant and they haven't made that a priority. I actually talked with a couple of patients today. They know that their business is probably going to make it a requirement and they're probably going to go in the next week or two and get it get a vaccine.
Shawn Ashley: In your opinion, then, as a family physician, what will it take to convince more people to get the vaccine and who's doing that?
Dr. Mary Clarke: Well, that's partly some of our job because we are really concerned about what it's going to take is a lot of people dead and a lot of children dead specifically. That always shifts. Historically, what we do, for example, the polio epidemic, that was a big deal. Children were the ones affected. I'm sorry that that may be what it's going to take, but we don't want that.
Dick Pryor: Indeed, students, teachers and staff at schools, colleges and universities are starting back to the classroom, yet state laws are preventing them from requiring vaccinations and masks. Do you think those laws need to be reconsidered and changed?
Dr. Mary Clarke: Yes, they need to be done away with. By making it impossible for any single school system to make a decision for their system, especially in rural communities, the only option is when you get an outbreak, you cannot have people in the classroom. So, what will happen is the only option is going to be everyone goes back home, goes virtual. That's really what we're expecting to happen.
Shawn Ashley: So then without mask and without vaccinations, how can students and staff be protected, if at all?
Dr. Mary Clarke: I'm going to agree with the governor for a moment and say that this is a responsibility for everybody. And we think that as a person on this planet and especially in our state you do have a responsibility to take care of yourself, your children, your local community, including your schools, and make sure you get your children vaccinated. Who can send them to school with a mask - just like you do with the coat when it's cold outside - everyone should be doing it. But when they don't, we need as a public health crisis, we need to help them along with that.
Dick Pryor: You said on a scale of zero to ten, your concern level is ten. What do medical professionals urge Oklahomans to do to stay safe and stop the spread?
Dr. Mary Clarke: Number one, get vaccinated if you can, if you're eligible. That is 12 and over unless you have an allergy to the vaccine. Wear your mask if you are in significant numbers, even if you are vaccinated in close spaces, especially when large numbers of public, and then do the normal things, wash your hands, try not to be around ten thousand people, not necessarily quarantine yourself at home, but be reasonable about social distancing. But the vaccine is the only way we're really going to get in front of this.
Dick Pryor: Dr. Mary Clarke, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, thank you for joining us.
Dr. Mary Clarke: Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Dick Pryor: And that's Capitol Insider. If you have questions, e-mail us at news@kgou.org or contact us on Twitter @kgounews and @ecapitol. You can also find us online at kgou.org and ecapitol.net. Until next time, with Shawn Ashley, I'm Dick Pryor.
