COVID is baaack. Actually, it never went away but the persistently mutating virus is causing trouble around the country, particularly in California and other heavily populated areas.
"Everybody's sick," a Sacramento retiree said. "A friend gave me a lift to the doctor for a routine appointment. Then he called a little later and said he had COVID. Now I've had it for three weeks and can't shake it."
"All my friends have it," a Los Angeles woman said. "I've never had it for some reason but lots of my friends are on their third and fourth time. It's crazy."
New vaccines are expected to be available soon, possibly even later this week in some parts of the country. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the distribution of the updated Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-25 season on Thursday. And in preparation for winter, when COVID typically surges again, federal officials said Americans will soon be able to register to receive four free tests in the mail.
The latest vaccines have been reformulated to deal with the COVID strains currently in circulation, much the way flu vaccines are updated each year.
“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “These updated vaccines meet the agency’s rigorous, scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality.
"Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants,” Marks said.
The updated vaccines include Comirnaty and Spikevax, both of which are approved for individuals 12 years of age and older, and the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, both of which are authorized for emergency use for individuals 6 months through 11 years of age.
The new vaccines are arriving just in time, as an even stronger surge is expected during the upcoming winter season.
"A lot of illness"
The summer surge took health authorities and consumers by surprise. On August 11, Joyce, a New York City apartment dweller, said she was just recovering from a lengthy bout.
"I am sharing as a cautionary note that I just went through a three-week bout of COVID. Yesterday I had my second negative test in 48 hours and have no fever, so I hopefully can now just recover," she said. "I am hearing every couple of days that someone I know or know of has Covid, and while I know we're thankfully long out of the pandemic, there is a lot of illness out there, much more than I can recall in the last two years."
Corona virus levels in wastewater are considered “high” or “very high” in 45 states, including California and the District of Columbia. Coronavirus sewage levels were considered “moderate” in Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont and West Virginia.
There are now 26 states where COVID-19 is projected to be “growing” or “likely growing.” That’s down from 44 states in those categories about six weeks ago, according to the CDC.
For most people, September and October are the best months to get vaccinated against both COVID-19 and flu, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone age 6 months and older should receive updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines, and can get both during the same visit, the CDC said.
“The important part is getting it done,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said at a briefing. “If September, from a calendar perspective, works better for folks, great. October gets you closer to the to the winter season. But the important part is getting it done.”