New COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available this week, a promising progression amid California’s harsh and persistent summer surge of the disease.
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday distributed updated COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer for the 2024-25 season. And in anticipation of winter, when COVID resurges, federal officials said Americans will soon be able to sign up for 4 free tests by mail.
Major retailers, including CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Ralphs, Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons and Safeway, are already accepting appointments for the new COVID-19 vaccines, or will do so soon. Kaiser Permanente plans to begin administering vaccines in mid-September and, in all likelihood, faster in some places.
The new vaccines have been reformulated in the hope of offering optimal coverage against the most prevalent coronavirus strains, a process that would possibly be comparable to the progression of the annual flu vaccine.
The arrival of the newest vaccines comes amid a strangely harsh summer COVID wave, the most powerful in terms of infections since 2022. The increased influx of new hyper-infectious subvariants has sickened many Americans, ruined vacations and weddings and forced other people to miss work.
Coronavirus levels in wastewater are considered “high” or “very high” in forty-five states, plus California and the District of Columbia. Wastewater grades due to the coronavirus are considered “moderate” in Michigan, New Jersey. , Vermont and West Virginia; there was no knowledge about North Dakota.
Earlier this year, some of the coronavirus subvariants that succeeded last winter’s dominant strain were collectively named FLiRT, a play on some of the technical terms for their mutations. This included a strain officially known as KP. 2.
A successor subvariant, KP. 3, had another mutation and was dubbed FLuQE, pronounced “lucky break. “An even more contagious subvariant, KP. 3. 1. 1, had a mutation that was removed, giving it the unofficial nickname FLuQE. or “by chance”.
For most people, September and October are the most productive months to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All people 6 months and older deserve to receive up-to-date COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and can receive either at the same visit, the CDC said.
“The issue is doing it,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said at a news conference. “If September, from a calendar point of view, works better for people, so much the better. October brings you closer to the winter season. But the thing is to do it. “
Dr. Cohen said Friday that spikes in winter hospitalizations for COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, a tripleheader that has put pressure on hospitals going forward, are expected to be similar to last year. , if not unproductive. But that forecast may turn out to be too optimistic, he said, if some assumptions turn out to be wrong, for example if fewer people are vaccinated than expected.
COVID-19 continues to circulate at a very high level nationally and in California.
The rate of positive effects of coronavirus tests continues to rise. For the week ending Aug. 14, 14. 4% of reported coronavirus tests were positive in California. That’s up from the spikes seen last summer and winter, and up from about 11% a month ago. .
But depending on the region, “I think we’re potentially seeing signs of a summer plateau building up in COVID-19,” said Dr. Demeter Daskalakis, who directs the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “They are out of danger yet,” he added.
There are now 26 states, adding California, where COVID-19 is expected to “grow” or “likely to grow. “That’s down from the 44 states in the unit categories about six weeks ago, according to the CDC.
There are early signs that summer surge is possibly starting to peak in some areas; and in Los Angeles County, trends won’t be transparent until a few weeks of sustained decline.
During the week ending Aug. 18, there was an average of 421 coronaviruses per day in Los Angeles County. The week before, there were 484.
Of all county emergency room visits during the week ending Aug. 18, 3. 9% were coronavirus-related, up from 4. 3% the previous week. Last summer’s peak was 5. 1%.
COVID hospitalizations are necessarily stable. During the week ending August 17, a daily average of another 478 people infected with the coronavirus were in Los Angeles County hospitals. The week before, there were 481. Last summer’s peak was 620.
“Since this is only one week of data, it is too early to know whether those declines will continue or imply whether transmission has peaked or peaked,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. to the Times.
Coronavirus levels in county wastewater are rising, but this metric has a longer time frame than other indicators. During the 10-day period ending Aug. 10, degrees of coronavirus in Los Angeles County’s wastewater were measured at 87% of last winter’s peak. That’s an improvement from the 10-day era that ended on Aug. 3, when coronavirus degrees reached 76% of the winter peak.
Overall, coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater have remained largely robust in recent weeks.
Generally speaking, this summer emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID have all increased, though thankfully just as sharply as in previous waves of the pandemic.
“As the COVID virus continues to mutate and replace itself faster than the flu virus, our underlying immunity to past vaccines and infections provides some protection,” Cohen said. “But we know that protection wanes over time and that certain teams continue to be at greater threat from COVID and other viruses, and we will need to continue to protect ourselves and our loved ones. “
COVID remains a greater risk than the flu.
“In terms of what hospitalizes more people and what kills more people, COVID is still a more harmful virus than the flu,” Cohen said.
Nationally, at least 50,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported since October, compared to at least 25,000 deaths from the flu. CDC estimates of flu deaths will be updated later this year.
That’s why it’s so important for people to be freshly vaccinated as fall approaches, doctors say. Those most at risk are older adults and immunocompromised Americans who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 for more than a year.
As of last winter, only 29% of seniors nationwide had received the latest COVID-19 vaccine, according to information from a subset of Medicare beneficiaries. As of July 31, 37% of Californian seniors had received at least one dose of this vaccine, which was first obtained last September.
Older people are the only ones at risk. ” Remember. . . 80% of adults in the country have an underlying condition that can put them at higher risk,” Cohen said.
And the very young can be vulnerable.
“When we looked at who came to the emergency room for COVID, we actually found that the rate was higher in other people under the age of 5,” Cohen said of this summer’s surge. “We can’t say that in each and every age group, there are risks, including our young children. “
Each new infection also carries the threat of long COVID, in which symptoms, rarely severe enough to be debilitating, can appear, persist, and reappear over a period of weeks, months, or years.
“I have immense empathy, having noticed other people struggling with long COVID in their 30s and 40s, other people who might otherwise be considered low risk,” said Dr. Peter Marks, FDA vaccine lead. . Friday. It is estimated that getting vaccinated can reduce the threat of contracting long COVID by 50%, Marks said.
People who might consider getting the updated COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible are those who are older or immunocompromised and have not been vaccinated in more than a year. These groups are now at the highest risk of being hospitalized. with COVID-19, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UC San Francisco.
“I would like them to be protected if they go through and get vaccinated now,” Chin-Hong said.
Another attention is if you are about to die or if you are making plans for an occasion or delight that you cannot miss.
“Right now, if they need to avoid infection, it’s a good time to get something, because it largely matches what’s happening,” Chin-Hong said of the new vaccine.
Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 now will provide smart coverage against serious illness in the winter, he said.
Chin-Hong said the most productive coverage against infection is six to eight weeks after vaccination; that window would possibly be wider if the vaccine largely matches the circulating subvariants.
Marks said timing is a matter of choice, but he has already scheduled his own appointment to receive the vaccine.
“Getting vaccinated now provides the maximum coverage you can get against what’s circulating right now, and that’s going to last for at least several months,” he said.
Many other people who have recently had COVID-19 would likely wait up to three months to get vaccinated, according to the CDC, because in many cases an infection confers strong, if fleeting, coverage against the virus, at least for a few weeks. . or months. But there are some reasons to get vaccinated soon after an illness, such as if you, a family member, or a family member are at the highest risk of severe COVID illness, or if transmission is highest where you live.
And for other people who just got the COVID vaccine over the summer with the old formula, they can wait two months to get the update, Chin-Hong said, “so October would be smart for them. “
“For me, the best time is October,” he said, as it’s closer to the peak of the respiratory virus season of last fall and winter, as well as major holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.
Another measure through fitness officials, especially when transmission is high, is to test when you feel unfit or before events, especially if other medically vulnerable people are going to attend.
Starting in late September, free COVID tests from the federal government will be available to order in covidtests. gov.
The CDC also simplified recommendations for those who get vaccinated instead of breathing in syncytial virus, or RSV. The company now recommends that all adults 75 and older, as well as those 60 to 74 at higher risk for severe illness from RSV, get vaccinated. These risk problems come with chronic central or lung diseases, a weakened immune system, certain medical conditions such as severe obesity and severe diabetes, and living in a nursing home.
The RSV vaccine is not annual, meaning other people who got one last year don’t want to get another one right now, the CDC said. Those who have not received it can receive it at the same time as their flu and COVID vaccines.
Pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of gestation should also receive the RSV vaccine to transmit coverage to their fetuses. An anti-RSV antibody is also available for toddlers and some young children.
“All those vaccines save you from the worst infections,” Cohen said. “This means fewer doctor visits, fewer hospitalizations, and more time to enjoy the fall and winter with your circle of family and loved ones. “
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