Even as COVID-19 enters its third year as a pandemic, the world is no closer to knowing the source of the virus that sparked it all.
Just six weeks after declaring a global health emergency, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the spread of the new coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
But while the animal hosts of the coronaviruses that caused the 2003-2004 SARS and 2012 MERS outbreaks were identified in a matter of months, the origin of the current SARS-CoV-2 virus along with its myriad mutations and variants has proved more elusive.
Last September, a task force set up by The Lancet COVID-19 Commission to search for the pandemics ultimate source was disbanded after 14 months, amid rancour, recriminations and concerns about conflicts of interest. And the probe by the WHO, a public health agency with no investigatory powers, has largely been stalled after a tightly controlled fact-finding trip to China in January 2021.
China has yet to provide the WHO with the evidence to support Beijings assertion that the spread of coronavirus had a natural zoonotic pathway moving from bats to an animal host to humans and the Huanan Seafood Market where the first cases were traced was swiftly disinfected and closed.
The struggle to find the source has helped give more credence to the possibility that the virus might have come from elsewhere, including a laboratory leak. Whatever the case, the evidence remains within China.
I became convinced that China isnt being transparent; theyre being evasive about quite a few things, said Colin Butler, an honorary professor with the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at Australian National University in Canberra.
Late last year, Butler was commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme to write a report entitled Environmental Change and COVID-19: The Risk of Future Pandemics in Asia and the Pacific. In the study, Butler listed medical and laboratory procedures as risk factors that could allow viruses to escape from a controlled setting and spread widely. For example, China allows experiments on coronaviruses to be conducted in low-biosecurity settings that only mandate protective gear for lab workers, a sink and an eyewash station.
Mindful that the origin of a 1979 anthrax outbreak in the former Soviet Union that killed at least 66 people was only revealed after the countrys collapse in 1992, Butler says he believes the truth about the current pandemic will remain buried by the current Chinese leadership.
China isnt going to be open about this under the current regime, he said.
In the first months of the pandemic, in April 2020, Australia was one of the first countries to call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. But other countries, most notably the United States, have not echoed Canberras call.
Im absolutely convinced that a lot of people are being not sufficiently transparent not just in China but also in the US, Butler added.
In the US, molecular biologist Alina Chan shares Butlers suspicions.
Chan, a scientific adviser at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was among the first scientists who advocated against dismissing a lab leak as the source of the virus.
Last November, together with British science writer Matt Ridley, Chan co-authored Viral: The Search for The Origin of COVID-19 and expounded on the evidence for the two most likely origin stories for the virus: via an animal carrier in nature or a lab accident.
In a poll last summer, a majority of Americans, regardless of political persuasion, said they believed the virus had come from a lab leak in China. Even so, Chan says the push for an investigation has been stymied by partisan politics in Washington.
Everyone is taking a side and trying to take down the other side, Chan told Al Jazeera. It isnt fantastical to say theres a cover-up.
For Chan and all those who argue that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could have originated from a lab, so long as an intermediary animal host that had passed the virus from bats to humans cannot be located, the natural-origin scenario lacks the scientific support it needs.
Also, the widely shared observation that right from the start the virus has unique features that made it extremely adapted to infecting humans en masse continues to baffle even specialists on coronaviruses.
Dispositive evidence for a natural origin of SARS1 and MERS had been quickly found despite less advanced technologies at the time. Yet, for SARS2, we still cannot find any infected animals that couldve passed the virus to humans at the market and we have not obtained evidence to tell us when and how the virus was spreading in Wuhan before mid-December 2019, Chan said.
Last month, new studies among the most detailed to have been published on the viruss origins so far pinpointed the market as the unambiguous epicentre of the pandemic given the nature and clustering of the cases.
One of the papers, awaiting peer review, suggested that the earliest known COVID-19 cases were located near Huanan, and that by November 2019 the virus had already jumped from bats to other mammals, and was spreading in the western corner of the market where live animals were kept and sold.
Virologist Marion Koopmans, who was a member of the WHO expert team that travelled to China, said the study led by Michael Worobey of the University of Arizonas Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, provided convincing evidence that the market was, indeed, the place where it had all begun.
But Chan and other scientists say the papers made claims based on incomplete data and biased samplings. And for scientists tracing how the virus spread especially in the early days the dearth of data made available by China has proved particularly challenging.
Hoping to trace the pandemic to its start, last spring virologist Jesse Bloom at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle tried to lay his hands on the genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from the earliest cases out of China only to find the data had been removed from the open-access site maintained by the US National Institutes of Health, at the request of Chinese researchers. As the owners of the data, the scientists have the right to request its removal without having to give a reason.
For example, Bloom said if the Wuhan Institute of Virology were to release its entire database of bat coronaviruses, it would go a long way towards settling the question of whether one of its labs was the source.
Without that information, he says the inquiry cannot be resolved scientifically. Its an important question to understand the origin of the pandemic, said Bloom. And the public would like a more scientific explanation.
Earlier this month, Bloom and 17 other scientists signed a letter asking China to release sequencing data from samples collected at the market.
Regardless of whether the virus was transmitted by animals or via a lab, Rosemary McFarlane, assistant professor in public health at the University of Canberra, says a lot can be done to staunch the risk of the next outbreak.
That is because both scenarios point to the longstanding problems of how humans handle wild animals. Keeping them in close quarters in trade and transit has compounded the possibility of viruses jumping between animals and to humans.
We can continue to debate the origin of this pandemic, but we need to understand what the risks are now, as the virus circulates amongst people with low access to vaccination, and amongst those in close proximity to animals. All of this provides opportunity for further virus evolution, said McFarlane. This pandemic is a wake-up call to the possibility of future risk.
Covid-related deaths in England have jumped to their highest level since mid-February, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
There were 780 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate in the seven days leading up to 25 March up 14% on the previous week. This increase follows several weeks where deaths appeared to have levelled off.
Coronavirus infections have been rising across the UK since early March, driven by the Omicron BA.2 variant. Prevalence of the virus is currently at a record high, with ONS figures suggesting approximately 4.9 million had Covid in the week to 26 March. This increase may now be having an impact on the number of deaths, which typically lag behind infections by several weeks.
The death toll is the highest since 18 February when 863 deaths were recorded although this is still lower than at the peak of the first the Omicron wave when 1,484 deaths were registered in England and Wales in the week to 21 January. It is also well below the 8,433 deaths registered at the peak of the second wave of coronavirus in the week to 29 January 2021.
In total 190,053 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, according to the ONS. The number of people in hospital in the UK with coronavirus is close to the total reached at the start of this year but is still far below levels recorded in early 2021.
This relatively low number of deaths and hospitalisations largely reflects the success of the vaccination programme in particular the rollout of booster doses at the end of 2021. A fourth spring booster dose of vaccine is being offered to people aged 75 and over, care home residents and those aged 12 and over with weakened immune systems.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) The University of Michigan sent an email out to students Friday saying, heads up, we are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases and you might want to take some precautions.
These cases are almost always linked to indoor social gatherings, Dr. Preeti Malani, University of Michigan Chief Health Officer, told WXYZ.
Dr. Malani says the trends the University of Michigan sees will also likely be seen across metro Detroit. She says, fortunately, high vaccination rates mean on campus most cases are mild. The university wants students and staff to feel empowered to take precautions to protect themselves if they or someone they are around is vulnerable. For example, she suggests considering masking at large indoor gatherings and if you have any symptoms, testing.
We want to make sure the people have the types of tools to protect people around them and home tests are one of the big advances that we have seen in the last year, said Dr. Malani.
The University says students can pick up free at-home antigen tests at any central or north campus CSTP site [campusblueprint.umich.edu].
An e-mail sent to students said, Additionally, the spread of the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron has grown to represent more than half of cases in the midwest region. This is significant because the new subvariant appears to be more transmissible than the BA.1 subvariant previously circulating widely in our community.
Dr. Malani says COVID-19 is not going away and it is best that people use what we have learned about the virus and protect themselves from serious illness through vaccination.
There have now been billions of doses of vaccines given all over the world with minimal complications. These are among the safest vaccines that have ever been developed, said Dr. Malani.
Students say its not surprising that cases are increasing.
I think a lot of people are done with COVID, said Nina Haley, a student.
I have noticed a lot of students dont wear their masks as much because you dont have to in the dorms anymore. But I have noticed a lot more coughing and sneezing and hacking up a lung. So that is a little concerning, said Leila Kitchen, a student.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.
The Boston-area COVID wastewater tracker data keeps on rising, sending out alerts to the public that a new wave has begun, according to a leading local epidemiologist.
The latest update from the coronavirus wastewater tracker reveals that COVID levels are back up to the measurements from early February. This jump comes as the omicron BA.2 variant takes hold, while mask mandates have been lifted.
The wastewater data in both the south and north of Boston regions hit lows at the start of March. Now, the average levels in both regions are well more than double the low marks. The sewage data is the earliest sign of future virus cases in the community.
I think its getting pretty clear that a new wave has begun and we will start to see more of a jump in the case numbers soon more than we are already seeing, said Matthew Fox, a Boston University School of Public Health epidemiology professor.
The wastewater data has been a reliable predictor so far so I think we can rely on it here, he added.
The north of Bostons COVID wastewater average has increased 160% since the very low level about three weeks ago. The south of Bostons average has gone up 146% since the start of March. The wastewater levels are still far below the omicron peak.
One-day measurements in both the north and south regions during the past week are back up to the levels from the first week of February.
The gradual upward trend in the wastewater is worrisome, said Davidson Hamer, a Boston University School of Public Health infectious diseases specialist. The good news is that it has been a slow upward trend.
I suspect that its a combination of greater spread of BA.2, reduced mask use in public places, and people who have been cautious starting to let down their guard, he added. Hospitalization numbers have not increased much which is good.
The BA.2 variant is now the dominant strain in the U.S., and cases have been rising in Massachusetts over the last few weeks.
This omicron subvariant wave is not expected to surge like the omicron wave in December and January, but people should be ready to start masking again in public places and reduce their interactions, Fox said.
As for what we should do, we should take precautions and wait and see how bad this wave is, he said. My guess is it wont be as bad as previous waves in terms of severe illness but we should be prepared to take action should things get worse.
Hamer said he feels theres no need to reinstate a mandate for indoor mask use in public places, but older people and those with weak immune systems need to continue to be extra careful.
He added that anyone with symptoms consistent with COVID should do a rapid test or even two over consecutive days before having contact with family, friends, schoolmates or work colleagues.
Republicans are eyeing an attempt to link a Trump-era immigration policy to a coronavirus relief deal that senators are hoping to pass by the end of the week.
GOP senators are pushing for a vote targeting the Biden administrations decision to end Title 42 which allowed migrants at the border to besummarily expelled from the country instead of being processed under regular immigration rules and allowed to exercise their right to claim asylum as part of a debate over a $10 billion coronavirus relief deal announced earlier Monday.
In order to pass the $10 billion coronavirus aid deal before the chamber leaves for a two-week break, Senate leadership is going to need cooperation from all 100 senators. That could give Republicans leverage to push for an amendment vote.
It seems like theres kind of critical mass behind that idea. How the Democrats want to handle that issue may have some bearing on how and when the COVID bill proceeds, said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican.
Thune added that if Democrats want to pass the coronavirus bill this week, they are going to have to negotiate with Republicans to speed things up.
Republicans would need a decision by the Senate parliamentarian but think an amendment related to Title 42 would qualify for getting a simple majority vote if Democrats let it come up.
That could put Democrats in a politically awkward spot. Several Senate Democrats have been critical of the administrations decision to end the Trump-era policy. Because of the 50-50 Senate, Republicans would need only one of those Democrats to vote for their amendment to get it added into a coronavirus relief bill.
In addition to trying to get changes into the coronavirus bill, Republicans are expected to focus on the border heading into November.
The administration onFriday rescinded Title 42, the Trump-era policy that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the border and blocks them from seeking asylum.
The order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifts Title 42 on May 23.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) called its striking a frightening decision for an administration nowhere near prepared for an influx at the border.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), who is up for reelection, called it the wrong decision.
Its unacceptable to end Title 42 without a plan and coordination in place to ensure a secure, orderly, and humane process at the border, Kelly wrote.
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The devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on poor and low-income communities across America is laid bare in a new report released on Monday that concludes that while the virus did not discriminate between rich and poor, society and government did.
As the US draws close to the terrible landmark of 1 million deaths from coronavirus, the glaringly disproportionate human toll that has been exacted is exposed by the Poor Peoples Pandemic Report. Based on a data analysis of more than 3,000 counties across the US, it finds that people in poorer counties have died overall at almost twice the rate of those in richer counties.
Looking at the most deadly surges of the virus, the disparity in death rates grows even more pronounced. During the third pandemic wave in the US, over the winter of 2020 and 2021, death rates were four and a half times higher in the poorest counties than those with the highest median incomes.
During the recent Omicron wave, that divergence in death rates stood at almost three times.
Such a staggering gulf in outcomes cannot be explained by differences in vaccination rates, the authors find, with more than half of the population of the poorest counties having received two vaccine shots. A more relevant factor is likely to be that the poorest communities had twice the proportion of people who lack health insurance compared with the richer counties.
The findings of this report reveal neglect and sometimes intentional decisions to not focus on the poor, said Bishop William Barber, co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign which jointly prepared the research. The neglect of poor and low-wealth people in this country during a pandemic is immoral, shocking and unjust.
The report was produced by the Poor Peoples Campaign in partnership with a team of economists at the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) led by Jeffrey Sachs. They have number-crunched statistics from more than 3,200 counties as a way of comparing the poorest 10% with the richest 10%.
They then interrogate the interplay between Covid death rates and poverty, as well as other crucial demographic factors such as race and occupation.
Until now the extent to which the virus has struck low-income communities has been difficult to gauge because official mortality data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and elsewhere has not systematically factored in income and wealth information.
The new report seeks to fill that gaping hole in understanding of the US pandemic. One of its most striking findings is that within the top 300 counties with the highest death rates, 45% of the population on average lives below the poverty line as defined as 200% of the official poverty measure.
Sachs, a Columbia University professor who is president of the UN SDSN, said the findings underlined how the pandemic was not just a national tragedy but also a failure of social justice. The burden of disease in terms of deaths, illness and economic costs was borne disproportionately by the poor, women, and people of color. The poor were Americas essential workers, on the frontlines, saving lives and also incurring disease and death.
The authors rank US counties according to the intersection of poverty and Covid-19 death rates. Top of the list is Galax county, a small rural community in south-west Virginia.
Its death rate per 100,000 people stands at an astonishing 1,134, compared with 299 per 100,000 nationally. Median income in the county is little more than $33,000, and almost half of the population lives below the poverty line.
Among the counties with punishingly high poverty and death rates is the Bronx in New York City, where 56% of the population is Hispanic and 29% Black. More than half of the borough lives under the poverty line, and the Covid death rate is 538 per 100,000 within the highest 10% in the US.
Racial disparities have been at the centre of the pandemic experience in the US. Early on it became clear that Black people and Hispanics in New York City, for instance, were dying of Covid at twice the rate of whites and Asians.
The consequences of such racial inequity are still only now becoming visible. Last week a study in the journal Social Science & Medicine reached a disturbing conclusion.
It found that when white Americans were informed through the media that Black Americans were dying at higher rates than their demographic group was, their fear of the virus receded and they became less empathetic towards those vulnerable to the disease. They were also more likely to abandon Covid safety precautions such as masks and social distancing.
But low-income predominantly white communities are also in peril. Mingo county in West Virginia, for example, has one of the lowest income levels in the US following the collapse of coal mining and the scourge of the opioid epidemic.
The county is 96% white, with over half its residents living below the poverty line. Its Covid death rate is 470 per 100,000 putting it within the top quarter of counties in the nation for pandemic mortality.
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Health officials have renewed calls for indoor mask wearing in the Central New York regionas COVID-19 cases surged 17% last week andparts of upstate facedsome of the worst BA.2subvariant outbreaks in the country.
New York reported 22,654 COVID cases in the week ending Sunday, up from 19,377 the previous week, and continuing the turnaround that began last month following a brieflull in the pandemic.
Amid the uptick in infections, the state Health Department on Friday issued an alert recommending mask wearing regardless of vaccination status in all public indoor spaces in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties.Previously, New York ended its indoor mask mandates for public places and schools on Feb. 10 and March 2, respectively.
Overall, New York ranked ninth among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis last week, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.
In contrast, COVID cases decreased nearly 10% nationally, with nearly 196,000cases reported, although data reporting issues raised questions about the scope of outbreaks insome states such as Florida, Nebraska, Arizona and Georgia.
In New York, tracking the rise in COVID-19 cases has also been complicated by the widespread use of at-home tests. Onondaga County, for example, had been the only county to include its self-reported at-home test resultsin state data, which slightly skewed the region's case totals.
When those at-home results are included, Central New Yorks seven-day average case rate is47.7per 100,000 residents. When those results are removed, the case rate is37.7 still far above the state average of 15.6.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations, which remain a crucial metric to gauging the virus' spread, havealso begun ticking upwards in many parts of New York, with the statewide tally last week hitting 2,190, up from 2,002 the prior week.
Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said in a statement the COVID trends in Central New York "suggests that transmission of the virus is widespread throughout the region."
The good news is we have tools to address this. I urge all New Yorkers to remain vigilant and take steps to protect themselves and their families," she added, noting people should get a COVID-19 vaccine and booster dose when eligible.
Many other counties across the Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier also faced major spikes in COVID-19 cases last week, ranging from 30% to nearly 70% surges.
Bassett also urged New Yorkers to geta COVID-19 test following exposure or when developing symptoms, and to stayhome and isolatewhen symptomatic. She also called on those testing positiveto talkto theirhealth care provider about pursuingtreatment options, such as the COVID-19 antiviral pills.
"Treatment is widely available and works best if taken within five days of symptom onset, so get tested quickly after symptoms arise, Bassett said.
Meanwhile, New York also passed a grim milestone last week, as a total of5,005,818 people in New York have now tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
In other words, more than one in four New Yorkers has tested positive for the respiratory disease, which has killed nearly 68,000 people in the state.
New York is the fourth state to surpass the 5 million COVID cases mark, behind California with 9.1 million, Texas with 6.7 million and Florida with 5.9 million.
Nationally, 80,155,397 people have tested positive and 982,565 people have died.
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Within New York, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in:
The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionsays high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Weekly case counts rose in 45 of 62 counties from the previous week. While state officials called for indoor mask wearing in five upstatecounties, the CDC guidelines, which look at case and hospitalization rates, recommended donning masks indoors in three countiesOnondaga, Oswego and Cayuga which fall in the "high risk" category.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
New York ranked 7th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 89.6% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Sunday, New York reported administering another 145,584 vaccine doses, including 24,924 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 84,182 vaccine doses.
In New York, 65 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 112 people were reported dead.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, April 3.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Hospitals in 15 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 12 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 26 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
The Food and Drug Administration will meet with outside advisers to talk about the next steps in formulating a COVID-19 vaccination plan. Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images hide caption
The Food and Drug Administration will meet with outside advisers to talk about the next steps in formulating a COVID-19 vaccination plan.
Most vaccinated people will probably require yet another COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in the fall, a top Food and Drug Administration official said Monday.
"That's when we'll probably have a fair amount of waning immunity in combination with likely further evolution of the virus, along with people going back inside," where the coronavirus spreads more easily, Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, told NPR in an interview.
Marks says the U.S. must start planning now for whether everyone needs another shot and, if so, what kind of shot exactly.
"We could basically wait until another wave comes along and then try to make another vaccine and try to deal with it, but I think we know that doesn't work, because we can't manufacture and deploy vaccine fast enough," Marks says.
The FDA is convening a special meeting of the agency's independent outside advisers on Wednesday for a daylong meeting to begin to plan the next round of boosters.
The meeting comes about a week after the agency authorized a fourth shot a second booster for anyone age 50 or older to shore up immunity ahead of a possible new surge sooner than the fall. A more contagious omicron subvariant known as BA.2, which has fueled surges in other countries, is now dominant in the U.S., raising fears of another surge.
The tricky part of determining what do in the fall is determining what version of the coronavirus will be dominant by then, Marks says. It could be the omicron variant, but it could also be an entirely new variant. That raises doubts about just giving people a fifth shot of the current vaccine, he says.
"There is a certain diminishing return by giving the same vaccine over and over," Marks says. "We have had enough evolution of this virus that it would make sense to want to try to cover some of the genetic diversity that has been introduced into the mix."
One strategy would be to give people a new vaccine that specifically targets omicron or one of the other variants, such as beta, Marks says. Another option would be a new vaccine that combines at least two strains into one vaccine, which could provide even broader protection against any new variants that might emerge.
"By this fall, we may be on to a new variant. It could be sigma. It may be tau. There may be something new that may be circulating that we'll have to deal with," Marks says. "We're going to have to make a good guess at what may be most effective."
That's how the flu vaccine is formulated each year, though the influenza virus is more predictable than SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19.
So far, an omicron version of the COVID-19 vaccine hasn't produced very promising results in early testing. But scientists are waiting for more data about that shot and about other new versions of the vaccines that combine strains, such as omicron and the original strain, omicron and beta, or delta and omicron.
Another question is how often people will have to keep getting vaccinated moving forward.
"Will it be something like the yearly flu vaccine, or not?" Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House science adviser, told NPR in an interview. "I have to emphasize: We don't know the answer to that right now."
Some experts worry that the FDA is just assuming another shot will be necessary, instead of focusing on the more important problem of vaccinating the unvaccinated and boosting the unboosted.
"The FDA agenda implies that, without open, transparent scientific discussion, ... that repeated boosting is the way of the future. There has yet to be a discussion of the goals of boosting and the trade-offs," Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and senior fellow at Kaiser Health News, wrote in an email.
"People like to say we can walk and chew gum at the same time, but in a world of limited resources, there are choices and trade-offs to be weighed. What are we not doing at the expense of repeated boosting?" she says.
In a briefing document posted Monday, the FDA outlined the many questions that the advisory committee will discuss on Wednesday. One issue is whether the U.S. or the World Health Organization will take the lead in formulating the next version of the vaccine, as the latter does with the annual flu shot.
Unlike with the flu shot, regulators will need specific new data demonstrating that any new formulation of the vaccine is safe and effective, the FDA says.
PHOENIX As the number of COVID hospitalizations reach record lows, doctors are shifting their focus to long COVID.
Some studies estimate the lingering, often debilitating symptoms, impact 30% of people who catch the virus. Sometimes the headaches, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, fatigue, and other issues dissipate after a couple of weeks. Some people, though, are still battling the virus' aftereffects more than two years later.
"I was working full time when the pandemic hit. I worked out every single day," said Nicole Walgren.
When the 32-year-old Arizona native caught COVID-19 in June of 2020 though, everything changed.
"At first, I lost my taste and smell and I thought that was going to be it," she said.
Weeks later though, her symptoms changed and got much worse.
"I couldn't walk to the bathroom, my breathing was [so] labored. My joints and bones hurt so bad that even going to do laundry wiped me out for the day. I actually had to move in with my parents because I couldn't physically take care of myself during that time," Nicole recalled.
Like so many who suffer from long COVID, Nicole went to see specialists to address her variety of symptoms.
"I had chest X-rays. I did a pulmonary stress test at the hospital. I went to a cardiologist. I had a sonogram test. I went to a regular doctor. All my tests kept coming back 'fine,'" said Nicole. "It made me feel crazy."
Nicole said there were days where she felt like she might die.
Bill Toogood understands that feeling all too well.
"My headaches became so severe I was convinced there were nights where I wasn't going to wake up. I mean, it was that bad," said Toogood.
The 59-year-old from Tucson is now approaching two years with long COVID.
Like Nicole, he has dealt with a wide array of symptoms -- pain, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, and an irregular heartbeat, to name a few. He also lost his job helping house families whose children were hospitalized in Tucson.
"I'm still not working," said Bill. "I applied for disability last November. I don't know how I'm going to get back to work, feeling the way I'm feeling. I just don't have it in me to put in a 40-hour week."
BIll is participating in two long COVID studies, led primarily by the University of Arizona.
"In the CoVHORT study we ask a lot more questions about household and work experience...Whereas the 'Recover' study is much more focused on the individual patient and their clinical outcomes," said Dr. Kristen Pogreba Brown, a professor and researcher with the University of Arizona.
Dr. Pogreba Brown says the amount of people afflicted by long COVID is staggering.
"Our study for CoVHORT is largely made up of non-hospitalized people, and we're still seeing rates of long COVID well over 30%," she said.
If those numbers hold true nationally, it would mean roughly 24 million Americans have some form of lingering symptoms.
Unfortunately for the victims of this virus, the current treatment options are untested and scarce.
Many people are linking up on Facebook groups and other social media to discuss remedies, helpful tips, and encouragement.
"There were hundreds of thousands of people in one group," said Nicole, who estimates the numbers have ballooned since she last checked.
"It's important to believe people who say they have long COVID," Nicole continued. "It's something that I really didn't want to share with a lot of people. But I relied heavily on other people's stories, so I felt like it was my duty to share mine too, because it made me feel less alone and less crazy. "
If you would like to participate in the Recover COVID study, you can register here.
A look at some of the top headlines trending online today including the latest updates on the war in Ukraine, the coronavirus and much more.
Scenes of horror reported after Russian troops leave parts of Ukraine (AP)
Hospitals and health care workers in Ukraine under attack, a violation of the 1864 Geneva Convention (CBS)
This is genocide, Zelensky says of Russias attack on Ukraine (NY Post)
Zelensky asks Americans not to stay silent in emotional Grammys cameo (Axios)
Airlines cancel hundreds of weekend flights as thunderstorms sweep through Florida (CNBC)
Downtown Sacramento shooting leaves at least 18 victims (NPR)
Vote by Senate panel begins process to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court (AP)
Obama to return to White House to celebrate health care reform (NBC)
Donald Trump endorses Sarah Palin for Alaskas lone congressional seat (Washington Post)
Man allegedly got up to 90 COVID vaccine shots so he could sell the vaccination cards (CBS)
Why do some people seem unable to catch COVID? Scientists are looking for answers (USA Today)
China sends military, doctors to Shanghai to test 26 million residents for Covid (NBC)
COVID-19 temporarily stops Daniel Craigs return to Broadway (AP)
China Box Office Crumbles as Coronavirus Lockdowns Bite (Variety)
Jon Batiste tops Grammy Awards, winning 5 trophies (AP) | Grammys red carpet gallery
Ahead of the Masters, Tiger Woods Hits the Driving Range and the Back Nine (NY Times)
South Carolina dominates Connecticut to secure second national championship (USA Today)
WrestleMania 38 results, Night 2 grades: Roman Reigns unifies titles, Stone Cold stuns Vince McMahon (CBS Sports)
