While the risks of deaths and hospitalizations from Covid-19 are substantially lower now, navigating this phase of the pandemic can be frustrating and confusing. The coronavirus is less deadly but more transmissible. Theres no set guide to personal behavior. For some, it may continue to be a season of sweaty masks and calculated indoor dining. For others, life is back to normal. Still, questions remain, and making informed choices can help.
So we asked three experts two immunologists and an epidemiologist to weigh in on some of the hundreds of questions weve gathered from readers over the past few weeks, based on their expertise and opinion. A selection of those questions followed by responses from the experts are below. They have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
I feel Covid is now like our annual flu strains. Is there a new type of vaccine coming this fall or winter to help with future variants? Gerry Moss, Naples, Fla.
Akiko Iwasaki: Although it may feel like Covid is now like annual flu, data show it is still causing more hospitalizations and deaths than the flu does. This is why keeping up with vaccines and boosters is so important. There will likely be an Omicron-matched booster in the fall or winter to help protect against the current variant. Myself and others are also working on nasal booster vaccines and universal coronavirus vaccines designed to reduce infection and spread from future variants. Nasal vaccines will not be available this winter, but if there is government support and coordination, they can be available in the near future, potentially in a couple of years.
Im 64, in good health, havent had Covid and have a family wedding coming up, so I went ahead and got a second booster in July. Now Im afraid that if an Omicron-focused vaccine arrives in the fall, I wont be eligible. Did I make a mistake? Mary Murphy, Kansas City, Mo.
Marion Pepper: Getting a booster in July before a big family wedding was a good idea and certainly not a mistake, even with Omicron-focused vaccines likely arriving this fall. The C.D.C. recommends that non-immunocompromised individuals 18 years and older wait for at least five months after their primary Pfizer or Moderna vaccine doses, and people 50 and older wait for at least four months after receiving a first booster prior to getting a subsequent one. These delays are suggested for several reasons, including the fact that immunity wanes over time so more frequent boosting with the same vaccine is not needed and because the immune response also evolves over time and getting an additional vaccine within a shorter time period may impact that response and reduce protection.
However, the Omicron-focused vaccine will contain new targets for the immune system, so these concerns may not be as important as the added breadth of protection introduced by the new vaccine. Most important, if an Omicron-focused vaccine provides better protection against Omicron variants due to these new targets in the vaccine, that would be the most important consideration.
I do not get close to people and am very cautious, even outside. My friend who is equally cautious, maybe more so than I am, just came down with it. Is it just inevitable? Carol Kushner, Fire Island, N.Y.
Nuzzo: Its important to realize that the virus is not going away and will remain a risk for the foreseeable future. Getting infected is not inevitable, but ultimately it does come down to a trade-off: How much are you willing to give up to lower your risks of infection and for how long? We all have different answers to those questions and will choose to take on risks based on how much we value certain activities. We know that tools like masks and tests help lower our risks and outdoor gatherings are safest. But we also know that many very cautious people have gotten infected nonetheless. This suggests it will be hard to dodge the virus forever unless we continue to faithfully avoid indoor gatherings, social events and other activities that enrich our lives. My advice to anyone who is looking to reduce their risk of infection is to mask when you are going to a crowded indoor space, particularly when case counts are increasing. But I dont recommend forgoing important life events or not seeing friends and family, as it doesnt seem like a sustainable or happy way to live.
Are the current at-home tests reliable for BA.5? Gayle DeRose, Victor, N.Y.
Nuzzo: Yes, the home tests continue to be reliable for detecting when you have a contagious infection. With the emergence of Omicron, there were reports of patients developing symptoms before their rapid tests turned positive. This is likely because our immune system may respond to the virus, causing symptoms before the virus grows to levels that are high enough to be contagious and detectable by the rapid tests. It has always been the case that a rapid test represents a snapshot in time. If you test negative, it does not mean that you are free of infection. You may subsequently turn positive if you have symptoms or were exposed to someone who had Covid-19. Rapid tests work best when they are repeated.
My 4-year-old got Covid for the first time this week, as did the rest of our family. He is the only one not vaccinated yet and had the worst symptoms, but it was much like other childhood illnesses. Will he really benefit much from a vaccine now? Morgan Morris, Kansas City, Kan.
Pepper: Studies from our lab and others have demonstrated that while a prior infection provides you with some immune protection, getting an additional vaccine enhances that immune response significantly and creates even greater immune protection. So yes, additional vaccination will help to protect your 4-year-old by boosting that protection and potentially prolonging his immune protection.
Nuzzo: Several studies have demonstrated that hybrid immunity (vaccine plus infection) may be more protective than infection alone. So vaccination would likely add additional protection, as Marion suggested. The C.D.C. recommends delaying vaccination for three months after infection (measured from the date his symptoms started or date of positive test if he didnt have symptoms). By that timing, your 4-year-old would enter the winter and holiday months with some additional protection, which is a benefit given that we tend to see large case increases that time of year.
If youve been vaccinated and boosted and still get Covid, are your odds of having long Covid the same as someone who is unvaccinated? Or do vaccines help reduce the chance of developing long Covid too? If there is a benefit, how large is it? Mark Hurwich, Chicago
Iwasaki: The reported impacts of vaccines in preventing long Covid vary between studies. Some say vaccines halve the odds of long Covid, while others find around a 15 percent reduction. Vaccines are very likely to reduce the risk of developing long Covid, and boosters help this even more.
Pepper: There are also some interesting preliminary studies in animal models suggesting that treatment with antiviral medications may help to prevent some clinical symptoms associated with long Covid, so it will be important to see if that is the case in humans treated with antiviral medications as well.
If were going to see the virus 10 or 15 times over the next five years, does the risk of long Covid increase with every exposure? Its impossible to know what to do with our kids. Carmen McAlister, South Lyon, Mich.
Iwasaki: Based on immune responses that fortify with every exposure, the risk of long Covid is likely to be reduced with every new exposure. However, in certain populations, the risk may be cumulative. Of course, its not possible to say for certain what will happen over the next five years, but most of what we know suggests that multiple exposures will lead to milder outcomes.
Nuzzo: So far, the more rigorous studies show that the risks for long Covid in children seems to be low, occurring much less frequently than among adults who are infected. This along with Dr. Iwasakis explanation of why we may generally expect the risk of long Covid to decrease with subsequent exposures and vaccination may provide some reassurance. But there is some uncertainty here and people will navigate that uncertainty differently.
When it comes to my kids, I am not as worried about long Covid, especially now that they are fully vaccinated. I am more worried about being too restrictive with their childhoods. They missed out on a lot of socialization already, and now that the worst threat is over, weve resumed most of our usual activities. I feel this is important for their growth and development.
To what extent is the world now better prepared for a whole new pandemic? Helen Kara, Uttoxeter, England
Nuzzo: Covid-19 has strengthened the worlds preparedness in important ways. We have seen that with enough political will and scientific determination, we can develop multiple safe and effective vaccines, rapid tests we can use in the privacy and convenience of our own home and new medicines for treating infections. The path taken to develop these tools has the potential to help alleviate human suffering from other serious diseases, including future pandemic threats.
But in watching our continued response to Covid-19 and now monkeypox, I do continue to see deeply concerning gaps in readiness for future pandemics. The biggest one in the United States is that we dont fund and staff our public health departments to be able to meet the demands of infectious disease emergencies like the continuing hazards they are. Instead of letting emergency funding lapse every time political attention to an event wanes, we need to permanently equip every health department with enough staff and modern data systems to effectively respond to infectious disease emergencies, including the possibility of multiple emergencies at the same time.
Pepper: I feel that there is generally a greater understanding and appreciation of the biology of infection and the immune response. My hope is that this heightened awareness of these topics and how scientists and biomedical researchers have been consistently working in the background to create new vaccine technologies and drugs will lead to enhanced funding. Additional funding would speed up drug and vaccine development and ensure that we have the tools in place to respond to the next pandemic when it emerges. The will seems to be there, but we will see if that translates to better funding and preparedness.
Will the pandemic end and if so, how soon? Gary McCormick, Searcy, Ariz.
Nuzzo: There is no defined state that constitutes the end of a pandemic. The virus that caused our last pandemic, 2009 H1N1 influenza, continues to sicken people every year as a seasonal flu virus. But we dont talk about that virus much because it no longer upends our lives as it once did.
Like the H1N1 virus, it is clear that the virus that causes Covid-19 will not disappear. But how it will play out in the coming months and years is uncertain, particularly as the virus continues to evolve. I do think we will reach a point where we move on from having the virus be a daily concern in our lives. In my view, that happens when we no longer worry about hospitals becoming overwhelmed with surges of patients.
Vaccines and treatments help us get there by lessening the viruss ability to severely sicken people or kill them. But not enough of us benefit from the protection that these tools offer. About half of people age 18 and older have received a booster shot. Getting people up-to-date on their vaccinations and ensuring that people who are at high risk for severe illness can access treatments if they get infected is key to ending Covids ability to disrupt our lives, which in my view is what defines a pandemic.
The new-generation vaccine has in-built insurance against the evolving COVID virus.
The jab made by Moderna - and Pfizer isn't far behind with its own version - still triggers an immune response against the original Wuhan version of the virus. But it also adds protection against the Omicron family of variants that have become so dominant this year.
The so-called bivalent - or twin-target - vaccine is the first to be approved by the UK medical regulator.
Clinical trials have shown it is safe and generates a much higher antibody response to Omicron.
The existing vaccine is less effective against the variant - it still gives good protection against death and hospitalisation, but doesn't stop people from being infected, particularly a few months after having the jab.
Omicron is likely to remain dominant this autumn and winter, so it makes sense to update the jab to try and reduce the level of infections in the population.
But why keep adding genetic material from the original 2020 virus if it has virtually disappeared?
It's because health authorities are hedging their bets.
The pandemic has shown us that the virus is unpredictable. A new variant that more closely resembles the Wuhan strain could come out of the blue. And the original virus caused many more deaths.
Combining protection against multiple viruses is the tried-and-tested approach already used in the flu vaccine.
That jab contains elements from three or, more usually, four different strains of influenza in the hope that it will protect people in the coming months.
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Moderna's new COVID jab still needs to be approved by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The experts on the Committee will decide whether the vaccine should replace the current Moderna booster.
Everyone over the age of 50, younger people with some medical conditions, and health and care workers are due to have a top-up shot this autumn.
It looks likely that they will get the updated jab.
Moderna has already agreed to supply the bivalent vaccine to EU countries this winter, if it gets the nod from European medical regulators.
The JCVI doesn't always align with its EU counterpart so it could choose to stick with the current vaccine.
Is this the one and only tweak to the vaccine?
You wouldn't bet on it.
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The updated jab protects against a broader range of mutations in the virus. But COVID will keep evolving and could by chance come up with something new that outwits our immune systems.
Then it's back to the drawing board.
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Letters with appointment times will begin landing on doormats in the coming weeks so NHS Lothian can get ahead of any potential surge in infections.
The booster jabs will be given at the same time as the flu vaccine to those eligible where possible evidence shows that administration of both vaccines together is a safe and efficient way to deliver maximum protection.
Frontline health and social care workers are also eligible for the winter booster jab, with the online portal to book vaccination appointments available from August 22. Appointments for all other priority groups will be made available as the programme progresses. The programme follows advice from the JCVI which recommended vaccinating people as soon as possible to have the best chance of mitigating the impact of Covid-19 over the winter.
Pat Wynne, nurse director for NHS Lothian who is overseeing this years programme, said: All adults aged 65 years or over will be contacted shortly with a scheduled appointment for their COVID-19 booster and flu vaccination.
Covid-19 vaccine immunity reduces and the flu virus changes over time, so its important those eligible top up their protection by getting vaccinated this winter.
Id encourage those who receive an appointment letter through the post to attend. If youre unable to attend, please cancel or reschedule so we can offer the appointment to someone else.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: As was the case in previous rounds of the vaccination programme, spring/summer boosters have enjoyed very high uptake among eligible groups with 86 per cent of older adult care home residents and 93 per cent of those aged 75 and over gaining an important additional layer of protection at a time when Covid cases rose sharply.
Id like to thank all those who have worked so hard to ensure that Scotland still has the highest overall uptake of first, second and third doses in the UK.
Following the JCVIs recommendations, we will roll out the Winter Booster Programme getting jabs in arms from early September to ensure those most at risk are protected over winter.
Vaccination remains the best way to protect your health and those around you I strongly encourage everyone to book in as soon as you get the call up.
Since 2009, ever since it was first detected in humans, swine Flu continues to circulate as a seasonal Flu virus across the country. Recent reports suggest a rise in cases of Swine Flu (H1N1) in and around cities across India.Swine Flu (H1N1) is contagious and spreads from an infected person via coughing, sneezing, talking, or even spread through contaminated objects or surfaces.'; var randomNumber = Math.random(); var isIndia = (window.geoinfo && window.geoinfo.CountryCode === 'IN') && (window.location.href.indexOf('outsideindia') === -1 ); //console.log(isIndia && randomNumber People at higher risk of developing serious complications of Flu include:
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Im the mother of two young children. Ive lost the past month to vomiting, sneezing, up-all-night coughing, snot, snot, and more snot. Its not Covid. And thats before I even get to the kids.
You know its true, you can feel it. The signs are everywhere you look. Parents and the child-free alike are dropping like flies. It has felt like the end of days.
Some are calling it the twindemic. I argue that term is too light. Germs are running rampant, partying all night, rocking out at the premiere of 2022: The Winter The Cold Came Back.
Now I can see the email was a portent. It arrived in July. On top of the rona, my two-year-olds daycare advised of the circulation of a tummy bug, conjunctivitis, and hand foot and mouth disease.
READ MORE:* Warning of possible 'twindemic' as influenza looms when borders open* 'Nervous': Concern grows for asthmatic Kiwis as 'severe' flu season looms* Seven-year influenza study needs more Wellington families in quest for better vaccines
A week later, my youngest started vomiting at 2am, because of course it begins in the dead of night when youre in your deepest, cosiest sleep, as per the rules of parenting. The next seven days were punctuated by flushing toilets, washing, the changing of sheets, and apologies to supermarket staff for the clean up in aisle five (or more accurately, the checkout area).
The next week, the first of the school holidays, our seven-year-old started coughing and was a sweaty, clinging snot-fest for the next three days. The two-year-old got it next and then so did I. If you dont have kids, its hard to express the misery of being sick yet not being able to be properly sick as you try and comfort and entertain a tiny, overheated disease vector, without leaving the home.
Michelle Duff/Stuff
Ahikroa Duff Witehira, 2, and Nukutawhiti Duff Witehira, 7, enjoy a moment of brotherly peace. Don't let this picture fool you.
By week three the kids were better but I was in hell. RATs said it wasnt Covid, which Id already had. I coughed all night. I was headachey. The snot came in rivers. Was this what a cold was like and Id just forgotten? I slept all day. There were no doctor's appointments for two weeks.
By the time I came right, with the help of antibiotics from the emergency doctor for what ended up turning into a sinus infection, it marked four weeks of family illness. I dont even know how much sick leave my husband and I took. Days. Weeks.
When your kid has a tummy bug, they cant go back to childcare for 48 hours after their last incident. Some daycares now send children home with a runny nose. And when your child doesnt go to daycare, you cant work, and you still pay the fees. Kiwis took double the amount of sick leave in June than the previous month and there are plenty of whnau who dont even have that.
Everywhere you look someone else is muting their microphone to have a coughing fit. After two years of little to no winter illnesses, is it that we have no immunity to fight off even the most pathetic of viruses? Have we all just become kind of wimps, or are we being slammed with some particularly virulent version of a super-flu?
In the public interest but also to validate myself, I call virologist Dr Sue Huang, principal investigator at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR). Is everyone sick? Is it as bad as we think?
The short answer: yes. And maybe a bit worse.
Dr Huang digs out as-yet-unpublished data that suggests that this year, our level of respiratory illness which includes the common cold is more than twice what it was last year.
Supplied
Dr Sue Huang, principal investigator and virologist at ESR, says this year there are more colds around, and theyre hitting us harder.
The WellKiwis study, a yearly research project that in 2022 involves more than 3000 Wellingtonians, has double the number of people reporting cough, fever, illness, runny nose, sore throat or other respiratory symptoms than in 2021. It is a snapshot of what can be expected in the community, Dr Huang says.
At the peak of the survey, done weekly, the rate of reported illness was 102 per 1000. When people report symptoms, they are then asked to do a test to see if its the flu.
Those results suggest when it comes to influenza, we are a startlingly seven times sicker this year than we were pre-pandemic. When you look at those who tested and had the flu, thats extremely high, says Dr Huang. This winter is quite a heavy winter, with so much illness going on.
In 2020 and 2021, there was no influenza or Covid-19 detected among those in the survey. (Delta, ravaging Auckland last year, had not yet reached Wellington due to lockdown measures.)
At this years peak, 22 per 1000 tested positive for flu compared to 3.3 per 1000 in 2018-19.
This was at comparable levels to Covid, which measured around 27 per 1000.
The only other significant illnesses during the testing period were RSV, which peaked at 18 per 1000 in 2021 following the brief quarantine-free period with Australia in July, when it was imported.
At the more severe end, at its peak this year, influenza-associated hospitalisations were the highest New Zealand has seen for a decade, and almost three times worse than pre-pandemic levels, Dr Huang says.
That happened in mid-June, which is also much earlier than previous years typically, the flu season is the worst around August.
In the last two years, weve had almost no flu. In those years combined ESR reported only 19 cases nationwide, compared to around 5000 pre-pandemic and almost 5500 so far this year. (These are just the cases that get reported to ESR from hospitals and other laboratories, so represent a small proportion of the total number.)
Were not imagining it, then. The next question is why?
Its a combination of three factors.
In late February, New Zealand dropped its quarantine measures and began re-opening the border. Along with Covid-19, that opened the floodgates to strains of influenza, rhinoviruses (the common cold) human metapneumovirus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
While we are still in the orange traffic light setting, the restrictions are nothing compared to the months of lockdowns, working from home and social distancing of the previous two years.
So the first two reasons we are sick are the most obvious there are more germs around, and because were all mingling again, they are spreading more easily.
STUFF/Stuff
Our natural immunity to even the common cold has been depleted in recent years, as there have been fewer viruses entering the country and weve been social distancing.
The next is immunity.
Typically, our bodies are exposed to various germs, or microbes, which build up our defences as a population to the spread of disease.
This season is, immunologist Helen Petousis-Harris says, payback for the immune holiday we have been on over the last two years.
Youre normally exposed to a lot of viruses, and a lot of the time you dont notice, but what youre doing is maintaining immunity and cross-protection.
With a build up of immunity, people might not get sick at all, or expect to get a more mild case.
This year, when we come across a virus, we dont have that ready-to-go, resistance, she says. So we're more likely to get hit and does that mean we get hit harder? If you have never been exposed to something, youll get a more severe infection, Dr Huang confirms.
Infants and toddlers are among the most vulnerable. While the peak of respiratory illness has declined for adults, ESR figures show hospitalisations of under fives have surged in recent weeks. Dr Jin Russell, a community paediatrician in Auckland, says hospitals have treated far more children with the flu.
This is because pandemic babies have barely any natural protection. We have a crop of very young children who havent been exposed to influenza and have no immunity to it, Dr Russell says. This has been a particularly difficult winter.
The best way to protect against the flu is vaccination. It helps boost antibodies so when you encounter the virus, you have a self-made army ready to fight it.
Yet the government was slow to fund flu vaccinations for children aged three and above, doing so from July 1.
And people got vaccinated later than last year figures are higher now, with almost 25 per cent of the population vaccinated, but were lagging in June, when the peak hit.
This year we got sicker, earlier also because we were less equipped to fight it off but its not too late. University of Otago immunologist and senior lecturer in pathology and molecular medicine Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu says its still important to get a flu vaccine, as there could be a resurgence later in the year, and hospitals are already under strain.
That goes for childhood vaccinations for other diseases too: A drop in coverage has increased the risk of outbreaks for whooping cough, measles and other preventable illnesses.
There's also one last purely sociological theory about why this winter feels particularly rough.
Psychology teaches us human memories can be short, and selective. Thats why we have more babies, remember the good things about ex-partners, and repress trauma.
Have we all just forgotten how bad colds are?
Combined with general illness fatigue, the state of some of our housing and the rising cost of living, its no wonder these past few months (if youre really going for gold, the past two years) have felt, quite literally, like the dark ages.
Bring on the sun.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of August 15, 2022, there are currently 2,891 active COVID-19 cases statewide. There have been three deaths reported since the last report, with a total of 7,206 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
DHHR has confirmed the deaths of a 63-year old male from Putnam County, a 79-year old female from Cabell County, and a 62-year old female from Morgan County.
Every loss brings grief to family and friends, said Bill J. Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary. "We must do our best to stop this deadly virus by choosing to be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19.
CURRENT ACTIVE CASES PER COUNTY: Barbour (11), Berkeley (205), Boone (37), Braxton (17), Brooke (30), Cabell (154), Calhoun (4), Clay (13), Doddridge (11), Fayette (61), Gilmer (7), Grant (25), Greenbrier (74), Hampshire (33), Hancock (37), Hardy (37), Harrison (114), Jackson (23), Jefferson (55), Kanawha (291), Lewis (17), Lincoln (44), Logan (83), Marion (109), Marshall (54), Mason (56), McDowell (34), Mercer (164), Mineral (62), Mingo (47), Monongalia (101), Monroe (29), Morgan (14), Nicholas (50), Ohio (55), Pendleton (9), Pleasants (6), Pocahontas (14), Preston (20), Putnam (82), Raleigh (155), Randolph (21), Ritchie (18), Roane (28), Summers (23), Taylor (13), Tucker (5), Tyler (8), Upshur (38), Wayne (42), Webster (19), Wetzel (20), Wirt (6), Wood (161), Wyoming (45). To find the cumulative cases per county, please visit coronavirus.wv.gov and look on the Cumulative Summary tab which is sortable by county.
West Virginians ages 6 months and older are recommended to get vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19. Those 5 years and older should receive a booster shot when due. Second booster shots for those age 50 and over who are 4 months or greater from their first booster are recommended, as well as for younger individuals over 12 years old with serious and chronic health conditions that lead to being considered moderately to severely immunocompromised.
Visit the WV COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator, a free, online tool that helps individuals figure out when they may be due for a COVID-19 shot, making it easier to stay up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccination. To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines, or to find a vaccine site near you, visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call 1-833-734-0965.
To locate COVID-19 testing near you, please visit https://dhhr.wv.gov/COVID-19/pages/testing.aspx.
Britain has become the first country in the world to approve Moderna's bivalent Covid-19 vaccine, which targets both the original strain of the virus and the newer Omicron variant.
Long Visual Press | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
LONDON Britain on Monday became the first country in the world to approve a dual Covid-19 vaccine, which tackles both the original virus and the newer omicron variant.
The updated Moderna vaccine known as a bivalent because it targets two variants is expected to be available to adults as a booster jab from the fall after receiving the go-ahead from the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on Monday.
It also received endorsement from the British government's independent scientific advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines.
The MHRA said that while existing vaccines which were designed to combat the original strain of Covid continue to provide good protection, the augmented version would provide better defense as the virus evolves.
"The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines being used in the UK continue to provide important protection against the disease and save lives. What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharpened tool in our armory to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve," Dr. June Raine, chief executive of MHRA, said.
The Commission on Human Medicines added that the approval marks a step forward for vaccine development, particularly for viruses with high levels of mutation.
"The virus, SARS-CoV-2, is continually evolving in order to evade the immunity provided by vaccines. This novel bivalent vaccine represents the next step in the development of vaccines to combat the virus, with its ability to lead to a broader immune response than the original vaccine."
The approval follows clinical trials, in which a booster with Moderna's bivalent vaccine was shown to trigger a strong immune response against both the original 2020 strain as well as omicron BA.1, which emerged in the U.K. last winter.
This bivalent vaccine has an important role to play in protecting people in the U.K. from Covid-19 as we enter the winter months.
Stephane Bancel
CEO, Moderna
It was also found to generate a good immune response against omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, currently the dominant strains in the country.
Following the release of its findings in June, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said he was hopeful that the new iteration would become its "lead candidate for a Fall 2022 booster."
"This bivalent vaccine has an important role to play in protecting people in the U.K. from Covid-19 as we enter the winter months," Bancel added in a statement Monday.
The U.K. government has not yet announced exactly who will receive the vaccine, however all over-50s and people in high-risk groups in the U.K. will be offered some form of booster from next month.
The government lowered the age threshold for those eligible for an autumn booster in July, following the continue spread of the virus.
Vaccines are considered one of the most effective ways of reducing the spread and the severity of the virus. Research in the medical journal The Lancet estimated in June that Covid-19 vaccines prevented almost 20 million deaths in their first year of use.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time, according to a statement released Monday.
Austin first contracted COVID early this year, though both cases have presented only mild symptoms.
Now, as in January, my doctor told me that my fully vaccinated status, including two booster shots, is why my symptoms are less severe than would otherwise be the case. I will continue to consult closely with my doctor in the coming days, he wrote.
Austin will be working from home, with all necessary authorities to maintain command of the Defense Department.
Austins positive test comes two days after VA Secretary Denis McDonough announced he had contracted the virus. Austin said his last in-person contact with President Joe Biden, who tested positive for COVID-10 on July 21, was on July 29.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
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For two years, the Covid-19 pandemic rattled financial markets, dominated news coverage and disrupted daily life in ways most Americans would never have predicted.
But now, in year three, the coronavirus has been downgraded to a persistent yet manageable threaton par with the flu. Thanks to some familiar medical solutions (vaccines, antiviral meds and public safety measures), three-quarters of Americans say the worst of Covid-19 is behind us.
Now, a new disaster looms. American healthcare stands in direct path of the perfect storm.
Doomsday predictions often prove wrong or overinflated. But, in 2004, a team of hurricane experts at Louisiana State University predicted a catastrophe [is] right on the horizon. They were right. Less than a year later, New Orleans was eleven feet under water. Hurricane Katrina killed 1,833 people and left thousands more homeless.
How did the researchers know Katrina was coming? Using data-based computer simulations, they observed a confluence of potentially deadly forcesrising heat, weak levies, high wind speeds, transportation issues and morethat, when combined, would bring about certain destruction.
A similar situation is unfolding in American healthcare.
Decades of price escalation combined with eroding quality and misused technologies have made U.S. healthcare the most expensive and least effective system in the developed world. By themselves, these protracted healthcare issues are manageable and might have been tackled over time, using familiar fixes.
However, that was before a trio of mega forces arrived that now threaten to create healthcares version of the perfect storm. Without urgent and radical solutions, these forces will combine to produce a massive medical disasterone that will prove far more destructive and costly than Covid-19.
In my 2021 book Uncaring, I predicted federal Covid-19 relief efforts, totaling in the trillions, would cause inflation to rise rapidly. However, I failed to anticipate that a series of global eventsthe war in Ukraine, an international oil shortage and a persistent supply-chain squeezewould enter the picture and, together, drive U.S. inflation to a 40-year high.
Without these added pressures, our country may have had five to 10 years to fix healthcares thorniest problems. Instead, the United States no longer has the luxury of tinkering with payment models or carrying out the long-term transformation of medical practice.
Most public health officials and patients dont realize that healthcare prices are about to explode. They mistakenly compare todays soaring consumer prices with the relatively tame rate of healthcare inflation.
But unlike gas, grocery and housing prices, healthcare prices dont adjust in real time. Instead, the cost of everything from nursing salaries to bandages to Rx medications is set one to two years in advance and holds firm for 12 to 24 months.
A when these contracts come up for renewal this fall, the piper will have to be paid.
Labor in healthcare is essential and increasingly expensive. So are raw materials and supply-chain expenses. The same factors that have driven consumer prices up 8% to 9% are likely to drive up the price of healthcare to unaffordable levels for decades to come.
Starting next year, the majority of U.S. health insurers plan to increase employer premiums 10 to 15% with American families likely to pay an even higher percentage for their share of healthcare costs.
Last Friday, my frienda surgeoncalled at 4 p.m. to cancel dinner plans. He told me one of his patients scheduled for surgery that morning was still waiting for his procedure. Since the patient wasnt allowed to eat or drink anything since the night before, the doctor didnt want to cancel the procedure and have to reschedule it.
Surgical delays and cancellations are becoming increasingly common. A driving factor is a growing shortage of nurses.
According to multiple studies, one-third of RNs plan to leave their current roles while many intend to exit the workforce entirely. More than 1 in 4 baby boomer RNs intend to retire within the year.
This dwindling headcount poses a huge problem for patients. Hospitals literally cant function without enough nurses. State regulators set minimal requirements for RN staffing on medical floors and in critical care units. The nursing shortage is especially pronounced in operating rooms, where experienced nursing is essential for optimal patient care. When hospitals cant meet these numbers, care gets delayed and patients must be turned away.
You might assume an easily solution would be to expand nursing-school enrollments and increase class sizes. But training nurses is expensive and time-consumingit takes at least five years to get nursing students ready to deliver bedside care and even longer to train them for the operating room. Further complicating the issue is that it takes a skilled RN to teach nursing students the hands-on techniques of bedside patient care.
And in the context of a nursing shortage, hospital administrations are loath to assign experienced RNs to educational roles rather than care delivery roleseven if the former is the best long-term choice.
With the dual threats of inflation and nursing shortages, hospital administrators feel trapped in lose-lose situations. They know that aggressively raising wages to recruit and retain nurses will drive costs through the roof whereas holding salaries down to address ever higher costs will lead to more nurses quitting.
Without immediate solutions, surgical backlogs will grow and even fully insured patients will find their surgeries delayed or postponed. The result will be progressively poorer outcomes, avoidable complications and even death.
When my friend called me the next day, he said his patient finally underwent surgery at 2 a.m. Fortunately, the case went well. When I asked how the family reacted, he replied, Theyre still irate.
Even before the pandemic, doctors were reporting burnout rates of 44% or more. Now, after two years of intensifying workplace demands and an endless parade of patient deaths, the emotional trauma on healthcare professionals has reached a boiling point.
The shortage of nurses and support staff, combined with cost-cutting efforts from insurers and hospital administrators have only fueled the discontent.
Doctors, who increasingly reject the word burnout, label the problem moral injury, a pain that comes from being unable to provide excellent medical care. Physicians say hospital administrators and insurance company executives are more concerned with profits than patients. Furthermore, doctors feel they dont get the respect and appreciation they deserve for all their hard work.
As a result, dissatisfied physicians are turning to private equity firms for better compensation and greater control over their day-to-day. Private equity leaders recognize this as a great financial opportunity.
The PE approach is to first sign up as many community specialists as possible (with a particular eye on the kinds of doctors that hospitals need to stay in business: anesthesiologists, ER physicians, orthopedists, urologists and cardiologists). Then, having gained market control through consolidation, the PE firms demand significantly higher physician reimbursements from insurers and hospitals (25% or more).
Between 2010 and 2019, private equitys annual healthcare investments soared from $42 billion to $120 billion. Naturally, the last thing these companies want is to reduce reimbursement. And as burnout continues to intensify, more and more doctors will pursue this route, thus worsening healthcares cost crisis.
As happened with Katrina, this vicious combination of forces, all hitting medical practice at once, will inflict massive damage. Double-digit inflation, a major nursing shortage and monopolistic control of physician specialists through private equityon top of the ongoing healthcare problems that predate Covid-19will produce a mega disaster unless we take urgent and bold action.
The old solutions (i.e., financial incentives and assigning doctors and nurses ever-larger patient loads) simply wont work. Try raising nursing salaries or acquiescing to private equity demands and well exacerbate healthcare inflation. Try squeezing compensation or reducing headcount, and well worsen nurse and doctor dissatisfaction and compromise access.
Addressing all three mega forces together will require a radically different approach than in the past. The details of that solution will be the focus of my next article. To receive that story in your inbox, click the FOLLOW button at the top of this article.
Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus
In the months after COVID-19 infection, some patients may experience post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), commonly referred to as long COVID. The continuation of COVID-19 symptoms inevitably leads patients to continue seeking health care after acute infection.
The impact of post-COVID conditions (PCC) on health care uptake has not been extensively described. A recent study, published in JAMA, examined whether COVID-19 infection is associated with health care utilization 6 months after acute illness.
The investigators sought to estimate the excess COVID-19-related health care usage, as well as the most troublesome long COVID symptoms pushing patients to seek medical help.
The matched, retrospective, cohort study included patients from 8 large integrated health systems from across the United States. Patients of all ages completed a COVID-19 diagnostic test between March 1-November 1, 2020.
The final study included 127859 patients with a positive COVID-19 test; they were matched by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and date of COVID-19 test to 127859 patients who tested negative for COVID-19. Data were analyzed from March 18, 2021-June 8, 2022.
The average age of the cohort was 41.2 years, 53.7% were female, 51.8% were Hispanic, 7.1% were non-Hispanic Asian, 6.2% were non-Hispanic Black, and 26.9% were non-Hispanic White.
Using Poisson regression models and difference-in-difference analysis, the investigators calculated ratios of rate ratios (RRRs) for COVID-19-associated health care utilization. Overall RRRs were estimated, and estimates were then broken down by health care setting, select population characteristics, and by 44 post-COVID conditions. Excess COVID-19-associated health care utilization was estimated by health care setting.
The investigators found that health care utilization was higher in the patients who had contracted COVID-19 6 months prior. Overall, COVID-19 infection was associated with a 4% increase in health care utilization over 6 months. Health care visits were predominantly virtual.
COVID-19associated utilization for 18 post-COVID conditions remained elevated even 6 months after acute illness, with the largest increase observed for infectious disease sequelae (86%), COVID-19 (19.47%), alopecia (2.52%), bronchitis (1.85%), pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis (1.74%), and dyspnea (1.73%).
COVID-19-associated excess health care utilization accounted for an estimated 27217 additional medical encounters over 6 months.
The study authors concluded their findings suggest health systems should plan for long-term strategic resource allocation to adequately respond to the elevated health care needs of long COVID patients.
