In the Arena – Dr. James Fanale, President, Care New England, addresses COVID crisis

Each week Joe Paolino, Jr. interviews people of interest on his program, “In The Arena”. The show airs at 7am on Sundays on ABC6.

This week Paolino talks with Dr. James Fanale, President of Care New England

They talk about COVID and its impact on Rhode Island, and the strain on the healthcare and hospital systems. They talk about the strain from Delta and how Omicron is not even here yet – it’s imminent.

Fanale also talks about the importance of the booster and that the efficacy of the two vaccines wanes over time – there should be no confusion – get a booster. Without it you are not protected.

We may have regular boosters in our future. In the next few years, COVID is staying with us. If you are going into a crowded area, you need to be masked. There’s nothing we can do about this. You can still get sick with a booster shot – but the chances of getting very sick and dying is much, much lower.

Fanale also says an indoor mask mandate “is essential”.

They also discuss the politics of COVID and how this has become mired in it.

We can expect a rapid acceleration in January and then a quieting down after 6-8 weeks.