COVID patient numbers continue to rise at The University of Kansas Health System today. 39 with the active virus are being treated, up from 38 yesterday. Only three are vaccinated. 13 of those patients are in the ICU, up from 11 yesterday. Nine are on ventilators, up from seven yesterday. 24 other patients are still hospitalized because of COVID but are out of the acute infection phase, up from 22 yesterday. That’s a total of 63 patients, up from 60 yesterday. These numbers are up significantly in the last seven to ten days.
Doctors also noted the city is critically low on blood. They urged everyone to call 877-468-6844 or go to savealifenow.org as soon as possible to make a donation appointment.
On today’s Open Mics with Dr. Stites, we talked with Dr. Barney Graham the man many call the father of the COVID vaccine. He is former deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, and helped create many of the COVID vaccines we’re using today which have saved millions of lives. He’s one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2021. He talked about how he made the discovery and what he is learning about the new omicron variant. Also, Dr. Robert Simari, executive vice chancellor at the University of Kansas Medical Center, joined to discuss the role academics and science have played in fighting the pandemic.
Dr. Graham explained how COVID vaccine development goes back 40 years to HIV vaccine development. With that research already in place, it made finding a safe COVID vaccine much easier, and allowed it to be developed quicker than most vaccines. He calls it one of the simplest vaccines ever made. But he was quick to dispel myths such as it contains tracking microchips or it alters your DNA, as it never makes it to the nucleus where the DNA is. It’s also why he says the vaccines don’t affect fertility, even in kids. He stressed viruses themselves can cause DNA changes. He says if we could have had the whole world vaccinated within three months it would have stopped everything. But the virus has continued to grow and evolve, and he warns that every time it infects a new person, it has the chance to change into something that could eventually escape our immunity. The omicron variant is just the evolution, and there will be more until enough people are vaccinated and it dies out. He thinks COVID will be with us for years to come but will eventually evolve into a seasonal virus like the flu or common cold. He cautions that when people say they don’t need to be vaccinated and the virus won’t make them sick, they fail to understand the consequences of one more person having virus replication, which changes the whole context of the virus. He says at least we’re getting more tools for the battle and we’ll all get through this, but the question is how much of the suffering and pain and loss can we avoid?
Dr. Simari pointed out how the pandemic has been the most important example in history of how academics, science and medicine have come together to accomplish incredibly important things. He says the best scientists in the world have been able to instantly share their data with their colleagues everywhere, which wasn’t happening before the pandemic. He believes the political and social challenges of our society are keeping the pandemic alive and have led to vaccine resistant people with an attitude of not wanting to be told what to do. He thinks we’d all be much better off if people could listen to and trust experts such as Dr. Graham. He says the pandemic has presented new questions every day, but the answers are the same. Vaccinations, masks and the rules of infection control will make all the difference.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, wonders how many lives would have been lost if there was no science in this pandemic? One in every 420 Americans has now died of COVID, but he says that stunning number would be much worse if not for vaccines. He adds that the vaccines will still protect against omicron and urges everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible to turn the tide in the pandemic.
Thursday, December 9 at 8:00 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of drug overdoses, killing many and ruining even more lives. But there is a new treatment that's helping those trying to get off of it and stay alive and live well. We will hear one man's story about how it worked for him and how he's doing today. Plus, what is being done to stop this growing epidemic.

• Open Mics With Dr. Stites: Creator of the COVID Vaccine Dr. Barney Graham ( Download)
• Open Mics With Dr. Stites: Kids and Vaccines ( Download)
• Open Mics With Dr. Stites Vaccinations and Treatments for COVID ( Download)
• Open Mics With Dr. Stites Changes in Insurance For COVID PatientsDelta is Different ( Download)
• Open Mics With Dr. Stites: The Intersection of Faith and Science During COVID ( Download)
• Open Mics With Dr. Stites: Doctors Describe Steep Climb in COVID Cases ( Download)
• Today: Open Mics With Dr. Stites ( Download)
• Dr. Barney S. Graham: Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Development Enabled by Prototype Pathogen Preparedness ( Download)
• Open Mics with Dr. Stites 3-1-23 ( Download)
• COVID-19 Vaccine Update with Dr. Barney Graham, MD, PhD ( Download)
• Open Mics 9-20-23 ( Download)
• Open Mics with Dr. Stites 2-22-23 ( Download)
• Open Mics with Dr. Stites: How Old is Too Old for a New Heart ( Download)
• Tuesday Morning Medical Update: Surge in COVID and Flu in the Metro ( Download)
• Morning Medical Update Monday 6-20-22 ( Download)