On today’s episode of The Confluence: Virologist Paul Duprex explains what we know so far about COVID-19 reinfections; PWSA CEO Will Pickering discusses the agency’s new stormwater fee and uses for the revenue; and a look at how municipalities are using American Rescue Plan funds.
COVID-19 reinfections are occurring as immunity from vaccines and infection wanes
(0:00 - 9:02)
According to Allegheny County data, COVID-19 cases hit a peak just after the holidays, but how many of those cases are reinfections?
Paul Duprex, director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Vaccine Research, says one way to consider the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine is to first think of measles.
“Measles, you get it once in life if you’re infected, or a couple of vaccinations and the MMR vaccine, and that stops you showing symptoms for pretty much the whole of your life,” says Duprex. “Coronavirus viruses and common cold viruses, they’re really different. We typically can be reinfected with those viruses, whether we’re vaccinated, whether we met the viruses before and that’s because … the antibodies that we get from those infections are not as long lived as the wonderfully strong, protective measles antibodies that are generated.”
Duprex says the delta and omicron variants of the coronavirus are very different.
“Omicron has many more changes. There’s about 30 mutations in that spike protein. … And the more mutations you have, the more different the virus looks.”
That changing look means antibodies have a harder time recognizing it, so reinfection becomes more likely.
Duprex says boosters are helpful in reducing illness, and the data demonstrates that. He adds that there will likely be more information about who should get future boosters as time and research continues.
“We’re always gonna be a step behind, because we see when we sequence, what the virus was, not what the virus is,” says Duprex. “That’s just biology.”
Stormwater fee from Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority will help offset infrastructure costs
(9:05 - 15:46)
A new rate structure took effect earlier this month for customers of Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, including a first-time stormwater fee.
In the past, stormwater services were funded based on water usage. The new fee is based on the amount of hard or impervious surfaces on the property, which causes runoff.
“We know that [drinking water use] is not related to the stormwater challenges that a given property might present,” says PWSA Chief Executive Officer Will Pickering. “We think [a fee based on hard surfaces] makes more sense, especially when you extrapolate that to commercial properties, you look at something like a surface parking lot.”
All property owners in Pittsburgh will now contribute a share proportional to the amount of runoff generated by their property, even if they were not previously PWSA customers.
Pickering says changing weather is contributing to the urgent need to address stormwater runoff.
“We’ve found in the last decade we are not only getting more rain, but we have more of these short, intense cloud burst events that can really cause a lot of havoc in the neighborhood. The stormwater only has so many places to go,” says Pickering. “We all remember the meme of the dumpster floating down Saw Mill Run.”
Pickering says customers should expect a slight increase in water rates for this year and 2023, as approved by the state Public Utility Commission.
However, Pickering says there are programs to help low-income customers, and inquiries for support can be made to PWSA’s customer service.
Cities, boroughs and townships are deciding how to spend American Rescue Plan funds
(15:48 - 22:30)
While a lot of attention was paid to the relief funds Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh will receive from the American Rescue Plan Act over two years, smaller municipalities also got an injection of money. Out of 129 municipalities in the county, over 120 were given their own funds, ranging from $7,000 to $25 million.
“The federal government used a fairly complex formula for this. Population is one of the factors, but definitely not the only one,” says Charlie Wolfson, a reporter with PublicSource. “I found that cities such as Pittsburgh or McKeesport got somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 per capita, while the many boroughs, townships got closer to $100 per capita.”
McKeesport, population 17,727 as of the 2020 Census, got nearly $25 million. Penn Hills, which has more than double the population of McKeesport, got about $17 million.
The City of Pittsburgh sought public input on how to spend the money, but not all municipalities in the county followed suit. Some simply decided to put the funds toward capital projects.
“Some of them were actually, I guess, confused about the really broad guidelines the federal government provided,” says Wolfson. “A couple leaders were concerned that if they would spend it on something that the government later determined was not permitted, they would have to give money back.”
Wolfson says Congress has allowed for fairly broad use of funds: It can be used to supplement a loss in tax revenue, for COVID-19 relief, or certain infrastructure projects. The only limitations are that the money cannot be used to offset a tax cut or support a municipal pension plan.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
