Virus variants spread as vaccinations slowed in April across Kansas, COVID data show

As vaccination rates slowed in April, coronavirus variant cases surged and COVID-19 hospitalizations increased in the Wichita area and across Kansas.

Despite readily-available vaccine appointments, new vaccinations have regressed. About 91,000 fewer people got first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in April than in March, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Statewide and in Wichita, hospital admissions increased month-over-month as doctors at The University of Kansas School of Medicine say the increase in COVID-19 patients is primarily due to unvaccinated people.

Meanwhile, confirmed variant cases nearly tripled over the last three weeks of April.

COVID indicators

The KDHE as of April 30 reported 309,130 confirmed and probable cases, 10,248 hospitalizations, 2,828 ICU admissions and 4,982 deaths statewide. The increases since March 31 were 6,758 new cases, 520 new hospitalizations, 157 new ICU admissions and 69 new deaths.

Comparatively, the month of March had 8,070 new cases, 438 new hospitalizations, 150 new ICU admissions and 170 new deaths.

Sedgwick County, as of April 30, according to the KDHE, had pandemic totals of 56,132 cases, 1,719 hospitalizations, 547 ICU admissions and 743 deaths. The increases since March 31 were 1,333 new cases, 150 new hospitalizations, 68 new ICU admissions and 13 new deaths.

While the April increase in deaths was smaller than the March number, the other local indicators worsened month-over-month. In the month of March, Sedgwick County had 1,120 new cases, 137 new hospitalizations, 61 new ICU admissions and 36 new deaths.

The Sedgwick County Health Department’s hospital status showed 56 COVID-19 patients at Wesley Healthcare and Ascension Via Christi facilities in Wichita as of April 26. That’s up from 30 patients as of April 5. The ICUs at the hospitals experienced more than a doubling of patients, from eight on April 5 to 20 on April 26.

“Almost exclusively, the answer is those needing hospitalized are un-vaccinated,” said Dr. David Wild, vice president of performance improvement at KU, during a Friday media briefing.

“We know what works to prevent transmission of this disease and to keep people out of the hospital,” Wild said, referring to getting vaccinated, wearing face masks, social distancing and following other health recommendations.

Public health requirements have been repealed across much of the state. Both the Sedgwick County mask mandate and Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order were nixed at the start of April.

“Masks matter,” Wild said. “We can do classrooms safely. Things that you take masks off for, whether it’s a restaurant or some other activity, like sports, those are the times where we’re at risk for transmission now.”

Statewide, children are accounting for a growing share of the new cases. Of the new cases in April, 20.4% were patients younger than 18, KDHE data show. Children accounted for 12.1% of all cases as of the end of March.

Wichita Public Schools reported 62 new cases among in-person students and two new cases among remote students between April 2 and April 30. Additionally, there were 12 new cases among school staff.

Vaccines

As of April 30, the KDHE reported 1,909,112 total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered out of 2,577,770 doses distributed to the state. In the last month, 679,603 doses were administered and 913,590 doses were distributed in Kansas.

Total vaccine doses administered doubled in both February and March, but the acceleration of the rollout stagnated in April. While April’s vaccination numbers beat March’s by about 35,000 more doses administered, it was exclusively due to second shots. Month-over-month, about 91,000 fewer first shots were administered in Kansas in April than in March.

In April, there were 317,004 new first doses and 418,922 more people fully vaccinated. By the end of the month, the state reported 1,118,929 people vaccinated with at least a first dose, or 38.4% of the population, up from 27.5% at the end of March. There have been 846,506 people fully vaccinated, or 29.1% of the population, up from 14.7% a month ago.

Vaccination rates are lower in Sedgwick County than the statewide figures.

Sedgwick County has 35.4% of its population vaccinated with at least one dose, up from 22.2% a month ago, according to the KDHE. The county has 25.9% of its population fully vaccinated, up from 9.7%.

The two-week pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is partially responsible for the slow-down in vaccinations, but hesitancy and refusal are bigger factors as providers across the state have hundreds of thousands of doses available.

Virus variants

Known variant cases nearly tripled over the last three weeks of the month.

When the KDHE first released variant statistics on April 9, the state had 133 confirmed cases from 22 counties. As of April 30, Kansas had 391 confirmed variant cases from 37 counties.

Variant cases are confirmed through genome sequencing, which is not performed on the majority of COVID-19 cases. It is unclear what proportion of COVID-19 cases are from the five variants of concern or four variants of interest identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The majority of known variant cases in Kansas are from the United Kingdom variant, with 306 so far. There have been 43 cases of the two Brazilian variants, nine cases of the two Californian variants, four cases of the South African variant and six cases of the three New York variants.

Sedgwick County has had 156 total variant cases, which is the most in Kansas. That number follows a 239% increase in known variant cases in Sedgwick County over three weeks. The county has had 115 cases of the United Kingdom variant, 33 cases of a Brazil variant, one case of the South Africa variant, one case of a California variant and six cases of the three New York variants.

Public health officials are concerned about variants for two primary reasons. First, evidence shows that some variants spread more easily and quickly, posing a risk of fast-spreading outbreaks. Second, some mutations may affect the spike protein and reduce the effectiveness of vaccines.

If not enough people are vaccinated to reach herd immunity, which most experts estimate will require 70% to 85%, the risk grows that coronavirus mutations will prolong the pandemic.

Coronavirus clusters

Clusters and outbreaks of the coronavirus continue to happen in Kansas.

Between March 31 and April 28, the number of active outbreaks climbed from 39 to 47. Statewide, the KDHE reported 57 new clusters during those four weeks.

The new clusters included 13 private businesses, 12 long-term care or assisted living facilities, nine private events, six sports, four religious gatherings, four government offices, three health care facilities, three daycares and three schools.

There were 39 new deaths connected to clusters in April, including 35 at nursing homes and other care facilities, two at private events, one at a government office and one at a religious gathering.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 1,920 clusters with 2,069 related deaths.

The Sedgwick County Health Department reported seven new business clusters, three new school-related clusters and two new long-term care clusters between March 31 and May 1.

The state and local health departments identified local outbreaks at the Congregation of St. Joseph Mount St. Mary care home in Wichita, the Glen Carr assisted living facility in Derby and Spirit AeroSystems’ Building 2-280J.

This story was originally published May 3, 2021 at 5:30 AM.