Doctors say California’s summer coronavirus surge is finally coming to an end, a welcome moment that provides an important opportunity to prepare for an expected resurgence of infections this fall and winter.
Key to thwarting this threat is the availability of modern vaccines formulated to increase protection against recently circulating coronavirus strains. This is the same approach used to develop the annual influenza vaccination.
That’s why doctors are recommending everyone six months of age and older get the latest coronavirus vaccine, ideally before Halloween. And unlike last year, the new shots arrive on time and in abundance.
“The most effective thing (people) can do to protect themselves as we head into the fall and winter is to get vaccinated,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a recent briefing. Ta. “We have the latest COVID-19 vaccines, the latest influenza vaccines, and the RSV vaccine, all of which can help protect yourself, your family, and your community.”
This summer’s surge in coronavirus infections has been particularly persistent. Virus levels in California’s sewage were calculated to be “high” or “very high” for 15 consecutive weeks, from early June to early September, according to the CDC. This is about the same length as the 2022 mid-year wave and twice as long as last year.
Levels of coronavirus in California’s sewage finally returned to “moderate” levels in the week ending September 21, the most recent week for which data is available.
In Los Angeles County, coronavirus levels in wastewater have declined for the fifth consecutive week. In the latest available 10 days to September 14, coronavirus levels were 45% of last winter’s peak. In the 10 days ending September 7, the measurement rate was 56%.
Doctors say vaccination remains important, although many recently infected people have some protection for at least weeks or months due to the summer surge in cases. As natural immunity from past infections wears off, vaccination could help fight future outbreaks and ease the worst symptoms of COVID-19 in people who develop it.
“These vaccines will reduce your risk of serious illness and allow you to do more fun things. We want to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays together as a family,” Cohen said. spoke at a briefing held by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
One major challenge, however, is that despite widespread acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines when they first became available, interest in vaccines that are updated annually has waned. The overwhelming majority of Americans received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot in 2021, but only a minority chose to get a new shot within the last year.
More than 95% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 last year did not receive an up-to-date vaccine, according to Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
COVID-19 has become less deadly since the pandemic began, thanks to vaccinations, the development of new drugs and built-up immunity from previous infections. Still, the disease poses a greater public health risk than influenza.
According to the CDC, at least 56,000 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported nationwide since October 1, 2023. The agency’s latest estimates put at least 17,000 deaths from influenza during the same period.
“COVID-19 continues to cause more hospitalizations and deaths than the flu,” Cohen said. “So if you’re getting a regular flu shot, you’re going to want to add coronavirus to that as well.”
There also remains a risk of developing long-term COVID-19 infection, a set of debilitating symptoms that can last months, if not years. A report published in the journal Nature Medicine in August found that the long-lasting coronavirus affects 400 million people worldwide and costs about $1 trillion a year, or about 1% of the global economy. It is estimated that there are considerable economic impacts.
“A prolonged outbreak of coronavirus can have a devastating impact on individuals’ lives, and its complexity and prevalence will also have major implications for health systems and economies,” the report said. “Addressing the long-term challenges of COVID-19 will require an ambitious and coordinated global research and policy response strategy that so far does not exist.”
Cohen said this fall and winter is expected to be similar to last year in terms of the prevalence of coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
“If last season is a prediction for this season, that means 800,000 hospitalizations for influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus,” Cohen said. “We know these vaccines can cut the risk of hospitalization in half.”
It is estimated that the influenza vaccine alone prevented at least 7.5 million influenza infections last year, he said.
The respiratory syncytial virus vaccine is recommended for everyone over age 75 and for people ages 60 to 74 who are at high risk of developing severe symptoms. Unlike the coronavirus and influenza vaccines, the RSV vaccine is not given annually, so people who got it last year do not need to get it again.
Daskalakis said up to 160,000 older adults are hospitalized with RSV each year, and the disease causes between 6,000 and 10,000 deaths each year.
“If you’re over 75, you should also get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus,” he says.
The RSV vaccine is also available to pregnant women between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy to protect the fetus. Antibodies to the virus, which is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the United States, are available in infants and some young children, according to the CDC.
Doctors say older people and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk of severe illness and death, and getting the latest vaccines could make the difference in avoiding hospitalization this winter. It states that there is.
People can choose to receive the COVID-19, influenza, and RSV vaccines at the same doctor’s appointment.
“There’s no time like the present to get the vaccine,” Daskalakis said. “They work, but they don’t work when they’re on the shelf. … If you’re someone who’s like, ‘Should I get the vaccine now?’ now is the time.” ”
COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations are also important for pregnant women, who are at higher risk of complications from both diseases, especially in the third trimester.
“When you vaccinate a pregnant person, their infant will benefit from protection as well. This is especially important because there is no vaccine for infants as young as six months old,” Baylor College of Medicine said. said Dr. Flo M. Munoz, associate professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital. Houston.
Six-month-old infants have one of the highest rates of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in the country, comparable to seniors aged 65 to 74, according to a report released Thursday by the CDC. That’s what it means. Of the nearly 1,000 infants hospitalized with coronavirus in the 19 months to April, 22% were admitted to intensive care and nine died while in hospital, the report said.
Among infants whose mothers’ COVID-19 vaccination status was known, all infants who died in hospitals were born to mothers with no record of vaccination during pregnancy, the report said.
Influenza is also a risk. According to the CDC, 200 children nationwide will die from the flu in the 2023-24 season, a record number for a non-pandemic season. About 80% of those children were eligible for a flu shot but did not receive it.
Doctors say washing your hands and wearing a mask in indoor public spaces can reduce your risk of infection from diseases such as the coronavirus, RSV, and influenza.
U.S. households can once again receive four free at-home coronavirus tests by mail. These are provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and can be registered at covidtests.gov. The test version began shipping on Monday.
There’s a lot of misinformation out there that masks don’t help, but that’s nonsense, Dr. Reed Tuckson, former District of Columbia health commissioner and chair of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19, said at a news conference. Ta.
“Masks are effective in preventing the spread of disease from person to person,” Tuckson said. “So make the decision to wear or not wear them on the basis that they work. But at the end of the day, how often do you need to do that? (Ethics) ) Please use common sense based on your moral values.”
Another big no-no is attending work or events when you’re sick. Some people may think that working even when they’re “sick as a dog” makes them heroes, and that it shows “how tough you are,” Tuckson said. Ta.
But there are also less positive ways to look at this, Tuckson said. “‘Tell me how rude I am and how much I try to infect others, just to show you what a big ego I have.’ Which side of that equation do you want to be on?”
A big challenge is misinformation about health. To the dismay of mainstream public health experts, the controversial Florida Department of Health has recommended against getting the mRNA coronavirus vaccine, going against federal guidance. Federal health officials have consistently maintained that vaccinations are safe, effective and reduce the risk of severe illness and death.
Tuckson, a former president of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Willowbrook, accused Florida State’s message of containing misinformation.
“We have to fight doubly with everything that comes out of Florida…It means wasted resources and wasted time,” Tuckson said. “And I, frankly, am outraged that we need more elements to make the fight for human lives even more difficult.”
There have been public health successes during the pandemic. In the early stages of coronavirus vaccinations, a national survey found that vaccination rates for Black and Latino residents lag behind white residents. As of the end of April 2021, 59% of white residents had received at least one vaccine dose, compared to 47% of Latino residents and 46% of Black residents.
However, by the end of November 2021, vaccination rates among these three groups had converged, with 78% of Black adults, 81% of Latinos, and 79% of white adults receiving at least one dose, according to a report released by the CDC. He has received the vaccination.
This was a notable success, Tuckson said.
“After concerted, vigorous and leveraged action by Black Americans and people of goodwill, including our colleagues here at the CDC, for the first time in history, we were able to actually close the gap.” Tuckson said.
This progress shows how it is possible to “demonstrate extraordinary progress despite obstacles and challenges,” Tuckson said. “We will need to work hard to overcome this pervasive, targeted and malicious misinformation that is causing so much illness, disease and once again death in our communities. .”
