Dr. Scott Levy, Chief Medical Officer, Doylestown Hospital, gave a macro and micro COVID-19 status update for the week:

• Nationwide, COVID-19 cases averaged 45,000, the lowest infection rate since summer 2021
• Doylestown Hospital itself has seen “no significant number of cases” in either its Emergency Department or drive-through clinic

He offered a helpful context around media reports about new variants, hoping to quell worry.

“A recent study by the CDC suggests that probably over 100 million people already have antibodies because they have already been infected with COVID,” he explained. In addition to them, “200+ million people have antibodies because they’ve already been vaccinated. Therefore, any variant that has any susceptibility to previous exposure or to the vaccine, is going to have difficulty getting a handhold.”

He also explained a misconception about the vaccine’s protection of children ages 5–11. He reminded parents that the vaccine was never designed to keep the public from getting sick. Its purpose is to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and possible death.

The protection of that 5–11 demographic from succumbing to a COVID-19 infection is borne out by data, Dr. Levy cited.

More from Dr. Levy on the county’s current COVID status is on the Doylestown Health Facebook page.