Indiana’s state health commissioner is warning Hoosiers not to behave as if the pandemic is over. “We have said before that we are in a race between the vaccine and the variants. Unfortunately, right now, the variants are picking up steam,” Dr. Kris Box said during Wednesday’s press conference. “Indiana has now reported 137 cases of the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant.”
Box said the fact that Michigan is one of the top states for B.1.1.7 is a particular concern. But other variants are also starting to show up in Indiana. Box said the state’s seen two cases of the variant from South Africa, one case of the variant from Brazil, and 27 cases of a variant from California.
“Yes, I’m concerned about the variants,” she said. “I mean, you can look at other states, you can look at other countries, and you can see when this B.1.1.7 variant became a predominant strain that was infecting individuals, that it is much, much more transmissible and appears to actually put more individuals in the hospital.”
Indiana’s COVID-19 positivity rate, number of new cases, number of residents hospitalized, and daily hospital admissions are all trending upward slightly, but they’re still relatively low.
On top of that, Box pointed out that the vaccine is less effective for some people. She said the Indiana Department of Health is working with the Regenstrief Institute to track breakthrough cases, cases where someone who’s fully vaccinated tests positive. “We have identified 221 breakthrough cases as of March 16,” Box reported. “These cases represent less than four-one-hundredths of a percent of individuals who were fully immunized as of March 16. More than 21 percent occurred in individuals age 80 and older.”
Box said researchers will be reviewing symptoms, diagnoses, and hospital stays, and will test samples to see if the breakthrough cases were caused by variants. Despite these concerns, Governor Holcomb has signed an executive order to lift the statewide mask requirement in most circumstances next Tuesday.
