HARRISBURG, Pa. — "We as staff members, we're tired."
That's what Dr. Nancy Mimm, an assistant professor of Population Health Nursing at Harrisburg University, said regarding the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to exhaust healthcare systems across Pennsylvania.
"We leave our families, [and] we leave our lives to go and serve the population and public," said Mimm. "And we really need people to understand – don't go to the emergency room to get tested."
While COVID-19 case numbers are starting to go down in Pennsylvania, the state's healthcare facilities are still overwhelmed.
"Without question, I know we're not out of the woods yet with COVID-19, and I think my message would be: let's show respect, empathy and compassion towards one another," said Geoffrey Roche with Harrisburg University.
Last week in Pennsylvania, the daily number of COVID-19 cases was 15,294, and statewide hospitalizations decreased by 12.8% from the previous week.
While this is good news, health experts are still finding effective ways to fight COVID-19, including one of the most recent FDA-approved drugs: Evusheld.
"It [Evusheld] is given through an intramuscular injection just like a vaccine, and like the vaccine, it protects you from very serious illness," said Dr. Stanley Marks with UPMC.
The two-shot treatment received emergency-use authorization from the FDA in December.
Marks said Evusheld protects immunocompromised individuals from severe COVID-19 cases. So far, he said this drug has been effective for his patients.
"We've actually set up a tier system so that in Tier 1, – where most of the immunocompromised are patients who are at greater risk [are] – if they get COVID they'll be eligible to get the first doses of Evusheld," said Marks.
UPMC officials are in the process of contacting patients who are eligible for Evusheld.
They encourage you to answer the phone if you do receive a call and contact your insurance for the cost of this treatment.