'We've Taken A Step Backwards': Top Doctor Laments Regression

MELROSE, MA — Dr. Steven Sbardella has been on the front line of the fight against COVID-19 since the beginning. MelroseWakefield Hospital's chief medical officer has been through the highs — the sharp decrease in cases as vaccinations became widely available — and the lows — gurneys lining the halls of his hospital, where the virus has claimed dozens of lives over the past 18 months.

This is a new phase. It's not a high or a low. It's frustration and pleas.

"We've taken a step backwards," Sbardella said Friday. "We increased the liberties we all had about congregating in large groups and not wearing a mask and so forth, but because of how aggressive this virus we're taking a step back where we're mandating masking whether vaccinated or not, going back to trying to maintain 6 feet of distance and doing as much as we possibly can to interrupt the spread of the virus."

The culprit, of course, is the ultra-contagious delta variant. Our desire to get back to normal helped give the infectious virus air to breathe. Now it's got us on the brink of another fall and winter of uncertainty.

It's not the same as last year, when no one was vaccinated and most people were much more susceptible to serious illness and death. Now at least 70 percent of residents over the age of 12 in Melrose, Wakefield, Winchester, Saugus, Malden, Stoneham and other surrounding communities have at least one vaccination shot.

But that final 25-30 percent of people have proved tough to reach, and experts believe the efficacy of vaccines administered earlier this year are beginning to wane. Booster shots are on the horizon.

The result is a rise in breakthrough infections — cases among those already fully vaccinated. While those people are extremely unlikely to land in the hospital, they can still spark the next spread.

"The concern is even that you're fully vaccinated, anyone of us can be carrying it," Sbardella said. "We become the potential source of the spread of the infection."

If you're completely healthy and vaccinated, and the only people you come in contact with are completely healthy and vaccinated (and the only people they come in contact with are completely healthy and vaccinated) then maybe it's not a big deal. But the minute an unvaccinated or immunocompromised person enters that chain, things could get grim.

It doesn't have to be this way year after year, Sbardella said. An end was in sight once before, and it can be again. It's going to take every community, every country — a daunting proposition when one considers vaccine hesitancy in just the United States.

"I'm surprised we allowed it to come roaring back," Sbardella said. And it will again, "unless the response is the same in all areas of the globe in terms of mitigation, masking, hygiene, and making sure people are vaccinated in a global approach."

The unfortunate reality is this virus has more time than we do. We can't wait it out, Sbardella said. Each person, including those in positions of authority, have to take the fight to the virus.

No one wants to hear what the doctor is saying. Vaccinated people who feel they've already done their part don't want to hear they have a "community responsibility" to give up some their newly rediscovered freedoms. Unvaccinated people don't want to hear that it's on them to get the shot and reinforce the ranks.

But that's what he's saying.

"It's not fake, it's not going away," Sbardella said. "People are sick. Unless we aggressively respond to in a sustainable fashion then we run the risk of this having over and over."

Related

• A Year Of The Pandemic At MelroseWakefield Hospital
• Virus-Weary MelroseWakefield Hospital Begins Vaccines, See Hope
• Hospitals Hope For The Best, Prepare For The Worst
• Parade Of Sirens, Lights Show MelroseWakefield Hospital The Love
• Hospital Gets 'Happy' When Coronavirus Patients Discharged

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.