Westwood's PhysicianOne Urges Everyone To Get Vaccinated

WESTWOOD, MA - A Westwood practitioner stressed the need for everyone to get vaccinated in light of another mutation of the Delta variant.

Children age 5 and over are now eligible for the shot, and boostersare available for adults.

Amelia Nadler is the Clinical Quality Manager at PhysicianOne Urgent Care in Westwood. Among her credits, she has a doctorate in nursing management practice from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, specializing in education and clinical quality. A family nurse practitioner by training, she has spent her career working in emergency rooms and urgent care. She came PhysicianOne about two and a half years ago.

"I came because I was starting a family," she said. "The hours were too crazy in the ER, and my husband is an ER doctor, too."

Nadler assumed her current role about a year ago as the pandemic gripped the world and became the PhysicianOne vaccine coordinator.

She took a break from administering booster shots to speak about the Delta variant of COVID-19 and a new strain called Delta Plus.

"I've been spending the last week trying to coordinate administering 600 vaccines," she said. "One of the best things you can do is get vaccinated, and now you have the ability to mix and match if you so choose."

Nadler urged people to research the vaccines and speak with their health care providers if they have concerns about which vaccine is appropriate in an individual case.

The Westwood location offers Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as the nearby Medford and Waltham offices.

"Variants pop up because of mutations, and there was a 40 to 60 percent higher transmission rate with the Delta variant compared to the Alpha variant," she explained. "Now that we've seen several months of data come out about breakthrough cases - and breakthrough cases are still very low - the main variant that we see now both in Massachusetts and in the United States is the Delta variant. We're learning about Delta Plus now because it's still in the same genetic coding."

There is a mutation to the spiked antibody protein which binds to a cell and produces the infection, she noted.

"From what we know, it's about 1o percent more transmissible," Nadler explained, noting that data first came out about it in June from India and the UK. "It's not a huge change in the ability to transmit the virus."

The concern with Delta Plus tends to bind to receptors in the lungs, she noted. However, the cases in the country of this variant constitute less than 1 percent of total COVID-19 cases.

Boosters are recommended because there is a waning of immunity over time. They are particularly recommended for first responders, elders and people who are immunocompromised, she said.

With the advent of cold and flu symptoms, which are similar to those of COVID-19, Nadler had this message: "When in doubt, get checked out."

"A sniffle is no longer a sniffle anymore," she stressed. "Until we have herd immunity, we're going to continue to see these changes in variants. You're going to see mutations as the virus tries to survive. It's just like the flu."

PhysicianOne offers patients a virtual platform to discuss their symptoms with a professional, she said.

"It's really an incredible resource for people to discuss concerns about caring for yourselves and your families," she said. "You should still follow other preventive measures, like using sanitizer, wearing masks and trying to stay away from crowds when you don't need to be there."

Another concern Nadler expressed was the importance of getting a flu vaccine.

"Last year, there was no flu season because we were isolated," she said. "Some people didn't get a vaccine last year, so their immunity is waning."

As the winter emerges, what might once have been considered flu symptoms are also the same for COVID-19.

The Westwood center currently sees "about 40 patients a day," about twice the rate of patient care before the pandemic.

For more information, go to this link.