The federal government will begin shipping out kits next week to households who order free tests through a website.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that households are eligible for another set of fourfree at-home COVID-19 tests.
The tests can be requested through a government website and will be shipped directly to homes. HHS said the new tests will be shipped starting the week of Nov. 27.
It is the second time this fall households are eligible for free COVID-19 tests. On Sept. 25, the Biden administration relaunched covid.gov/tests, allowing households four free COVID-19 tests. The relaunch came after $600 million was allocated to manufacture the tests.
The $600 million would go toward making 200 million COVID-19 tests.
Households that have not ordered free COVID-19 tests since September are eligible for up to eight free at-home tests.
Related StoryGathering for Thanksgiving? Now is best time to get COVID, flu shots
Covid.gov/tests was originally launched in January 2022 during the height of the omicron variant. Nearly 40 million households requested free tests during the original launch.
The at-home tests generally give results within 30 minutes and do not require a lab drop-off.
Officials recommend using an at-home COVID-19 test after developing COVID symptoms such as a fever, sore throat, runny nose or loss of taste. They also recommend testing five days after coming into close contact with someone with COVID-19.
More than three and a half years after COVID-19 began spreading throughout the U.S.,the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionreported 16,239 hospitalizations for the week of Nov. 11.
Being concerned about spreading COVID-19 is reportedly sooo last season.
As the U.S. heads into the fourth holiday season since the pandemic's onset, most Americans arent worried about COVID-19 spread or prevention during the holidays this year, a new study has revealed.
Many people have not received the latest vaccine, according to KFFs latest COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey which could be a reflection of the decreased concern.
COLD, FLU, COVID-19 AND RSV: HOW TO IDENTIFY THE DIFFERING SYMPTOMS AND STAY SAFE
About half of adults surveyed said they do not plan to get the newest COVID vaccine that was released this fall.
This includes three in 10 of those adults who were previously vaccinated.
A new survey found that half of adults plan to limit the spread of COVID with at least one prevention tactic. (iStock)
A quarter of the respondents said they intend to get the latest vaccine but only two in 10 adults have already received it.
COVID-19, FLU AND RSV VACCINES ARE ALL AVAILABLE THIS FALL: SEE WHAT SOME DOCTORS RECOMMEND AND WHY
The largest adopters of the vaccine include Democrats and people who are age 65 and older, the survey revealed.
About half (52%) of people who were previously vaccinated admitted they havent received the latest vaccine due to a lack of worry about COVID-19.
A quarter of the respondents intend to get the latest vaccine, but only two in 10 adults have already received it. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The study by KFF (formerly known as The Kaiser Family Foundation) also discovered that getting vaccinated isnt as much of a priority, as 37% of respondents said theyve been too busy or are waiting until later to get the vaccine.
Only about three in 10 people are worried about spreading COVID to friends and family over the holidays or becoming seriously sick from the virus.
COVID AND FLU VACCINE RATES ARE DECLINING FOR US HEALTH CARE WORKERS, CDC REPORTS
Just over a quarter of Americans worry theyll catch COVID during the holidays but 46% of people are concerned about a potential increase in hospitalizations.
The public is divided on taking precautions, the survey found: Half of adults say they plan to attempt to limit the spread with at least one safety procedure, including avoiding large gatherings, wearing a mask or testing for COVID before visiting friends and family.
The other half do not plan to implement any precautions at all.
The public is divided about taking precautions against COVID, a new survey found, as half of adults say they plan to attempt to limit the spread with at least one safety procedure. (iStock)
The KFF report findings are based on responses from a nationally representative sample of roughly 1,400 adults who were interviewed online and by telephone between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7, the group's website says. The group is headquartered in San Francisco.
Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier reacted to the survey results in an exchange with Fox News Digital, noting that concern about COVID during the holidays has "certainly evolved" over the last few years.
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"As we enter this holiday season, the majority of people have already had at least one COVID infection, most of which likely only experienced mild to moderate symptoms," she said.
With every holiday season, other viruses such as the flu and RSV are also waiting to "wreak havoc," which has pulled COVID out of the spotlight, said one health expert. (iStock)
Saphier pointed out that the greatest fear at the beginning of the pandemic was the unknown which prompted the public to take extra care when heading into the 2020 holidays.
"As vaccines and boosters became available for the higher risk [groups], and it became apparent that [these vaccines and boosters] did not prevent transmission and had little effect on preventing infection, non-high risk people became less inclined to get the boosters because the benefit no longer clearly outweighed potential risk in low-risk people," she told Fox News Digital.
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The doctor added that, as with every holiday season, other viruses such as the flu and RSV are also waiting to "wreak havoc," which has pulled COVID out of the spotlight.
"COVID is no longer the outlier, [but] rather just another virus among the masses," she said.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com.com/health.
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LONDON Scientists faced a real struggle in trying to get Boris Johnson to understand key terms and statistics relating to coronavirus, Britains COVID-19 pandemic inquiry has been told.
Extracts from the contemporary diary of Patrick Vallance the governments chief scientific adviser during the pandemic claim that on several occasions Johnson, then the prime minister, was confused and bamboozled when engaged in conversations about the virus.
Watching PM get his head around stats is awful, one extract from Vallances diary, dated June 11 2020 and read out at the inquiry Monday, reads. He finds relative and absolute risk almost impossible to understand.
Johnson was taken through the graphs but it was a real struggle to get him to understand them, another entry from February 2021 reads.
A third, from May 2020, said Johnson was clearly bamboozled by what Vallance described as a complicated meeting on the risks and science behind the question of reopening schools.
In another entry from September 2020, Johnson is said to be surprised to see a chart illustrating all the same stuff he was shown 6h[ours] ago.
Giving evidence to the inquiry in person Monday, Vallance said his former boss would be the first to admit that scientific concepts are not his forte. Vallance said fellow scientific advisers in Europe had often complained to him of a lack of scientific understanding among their own leaders.
But it was hard work sometimes to try and make sure that he had understood what a particular graph or piece of data was saying, the top scientist continued.
I would usually be persuaded that we had got him to understand what it was we were trying to say. But as one of the extracts showed, six hours later he might not have remembered what was in that presentation so I cant be sure that he kept in his mind all the time, he added.
Johnson will appear before the inquiry to give evidence in the next two weeks.
Earlier Monday, Vallance argued that the government failed to act quickly enough to deal with the pandemic in its initial phases. Asked about the early stages of the pandemic as cases began to rise in the U.K, Vallance said researchers had realized an estimated 75 percent reduction in contacts between individuals would be required to prevent the National Health Service becoming overwhelmed.
I am not convinced that there was a very effective operational response to that, he added.
According to the last US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) maps, fourteen states have a big increase in Coronavirus hospitalizations. There's an 8.6 percent increase in cases in the US, with 16,239 new hospital admissions in the week ending November 11. According to US News, the increase comes after new COVID-19 weekly hospital admissions have mostly been trending downward or remaining stable since early September.
The spike in cases is higher in the upper Midwest, parts of the South Atlantic, and southern Mountain regions. As per reports, hospitalizations had steadily risen since late June, peaking in early September but remaining stable around 15,000 through October and November. While this is significantly lower than the January 2021 peak of over 150,600, the latest data reveals concerning trends in several states.
As per reports, Vermont leads with a 70 percent rise, followed by Iowa and Alaska at 60 percent. Montana, Minnesota, and Hawaii have seen increases of over 30 percent. Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona, and Washington D.C. report over 20 percent hikes.
According to health experts, colder weather makes Coronavirus spread more easily. "Colder weather tends to lead to an increased spread in viruses and other infections," notes the CDC. According to a 2020 study, the COVID virus can last longer in cold and dry conditions.
Read more: Do you find it difficult to exercise? You may have flat feet
During a two-week period ending on November 11, COVID-variant HV.1 accounted for 29% of new COVID-19 infections in the US, according to the CDC. After HV.1, the next most common variant was EG.5, which made up about 22% of cases. This was followed by FL.1.5.1 or Fornax, and XBB.1.16 or Arcturus.
Simple yet tried-and-tested preventive measures suggested by the WHO to protect yourselves from COVID in winters include wearing a well-fitting mask when needed, maintaining physical distance of at least 1 meter, ventilating indoor spaces by opening windows and/or doors, avoiding closed, confined or crowded spaces, keeping hands clean, and coughing or sneezing into a bent elbow or tissue. It is also important to be fully vaccinated and avoid traveling if you are at risk.
New Zealands fifth Covid-19 wave appears to be driving a larger spike in cases than our last bump in April. Photo / 123RF
New Zealands fifth Covid-19 wave appears to be driving the largest spike in infections seen all year, an epidemiologist says - and offers a glimpse of our long-term future with the coronavirus.
Health officials yesterday announced 7881 new reported Covid-19 cases over the week to Sunday, of which 1474 were probable cases that was up from 5947 and 1047 respectively on the week before.
Hospitalisation numbers, too, had ticked upward, from 284 to 349 week-on-week, as had virus detected in wastewater surveillance.
ESR data showed a national average of 5.06 million copies of the virus detected per person, per day in wastewater at November 12 double what was detected just a month before.
Of the indicators that are now the most valid wastewater and hospitalisations both have been at their highest levels since January, if you take their peak values, Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker said.
Looking at hospitalisations in particular, it seems to be a bigger peak than what we saw in the fourth wave. This may be showing us what we can expect in the long term, which is peaks and troughs.
Modellers still didnt see this wave reaching the height of the one that took off around this time in 2022 - when case numbers reached the mid-8000s and weekly hospitalisations nearly topped 600 as it was growing off a much lower base.
There was also nothing to suggest any game-changing new subvariant was helping build any wave the size of 2022s largest ones, in what was now a highly-exposed and highly-vaccinated population.
The latest ESR sampling showed a mix of Omicron subvariants albeit with the EG.5 or Eris type and its relatives now making up more than half of genomes sequenced - still driving spread.
It remained to be seen whether infection rates would keep rising as Christmas neared - with wastewater detections having taken a slight dip.
It looks like were seeing the wave perhaps peaking in some parts of New Zealand, but rising in others - so theres now a bit of regional variation, Baker said.
But the overall pattern is really clear. Were in a large wave and we need to respond to it.
Longer term, Baker said a national approach was needed to manage these peak periods.
Thats because a lot of people are getting sick, are going to hospital and putting pressure on the system and unfortunately, deaths are going up too.
The 20 further deaths reported from last week added to a total 3522 since the beginning of the pandemic.
We have already invested extensively in all these surveillance systems, so now I think we need to act on the information that theyre giving us.
He singled out several priority areas he felt required addressing, including promoting boosters; supporting to help people self-isolate, and consistent policy for ventilation standards and mask use in healthcare settings.
Last week, Baker and colleagues called on the Government to set up a dedicated centre for disease control like that in the US, and now being established in Australia - to better prepare for future pandemics.
Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.
This article has been reviewed according to ScienceX's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
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Using artificial intelligence technology and mathematical modeling, a research group led by Nagoya University has revealed that human behavior, such as lockdowns and isolation measures, affects the evolution of new strains of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, developed to become more transmissible earlier in its lifecycle. The researchers' findings, published in Nature Communications, provide new insights into the relationship between how people behave and disease-causing agents.
As with any other living organism, viruses evolve over time. Those with survival advantages become dominant in the gene pool. Many environmental factors influence this evolution, including human behavior. By isolating sick people and using lockdowns to control outbreaks, humans may alter virus evolution in complicated ways. Predicting how these changes occur is vital to develop adaptive treatments and interventions.
An important concept in this interaction is viral load, which refers to the amount or concentration of a virus present per ml of a bodily fluid. In SARS-CoV-2, a higher viral load in respiratory secretions increases the risk of transmission through droplets. Viral load relates to the potential to transmit a virus to others. For example, a virus like Ebola has an exceptionally high viral load, whereas the common cold has a low one. However, viruses must perform a careful balancing act, as increasing the maximum viral load can be advantageous, but an excessive viral load may cause individuals to become too sick to transmit the virus to others.
The research group, led by Professor Shingo Iwami at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Science, identified trends using mathematical modeling with an artificial intelligence component to investigate previously published clinical data. They found that the SARS-CoV-2 variants that were most successful at spreading had an earlier and higher peak in viral load. However, as the virus evolved from the pre-Alpha to the Delta variants, it had a shorter duration of infection. The researchers also found that the decreased incubation period and the increased proportion of asymptomatic infections recorded as the virus mutated also affected virus evolution.
The results showed a clear difference. As the virus evolved from the Wuhan strain to the Delta strain, they found a 5-fold increase in the maximum viral load and a 1.5-fold increase in the number of days before the viral load peaked.
Iwami and his colleagues suggest that human behavioral changes in response to the virus, designed to limit transmission, were increasing the selection pressure on the virus. This caused SARS-CoV-2 to be transmitted mainly during the asymptomatic and presymptomatic periods, which occur earlier in its infectious cycle. As a result, the viral load peak advanced to this period to spread more effectively in the earlier pre-symptomatic stages.
When evaluating public health strategies in response to COVID-19 and any future potentially pandemic-causing pathogens, it is necessary to consider the impact of changes in human behavior on virus evolution patterns.
"We expect that immune pressure from vaccinations and/or previous infections drives the evolution of SARS-CoV-2," Iwami said. "However, our study found that human behavior can also contribute to the virus's evolution in a more complicated manner, suggesting the need to reevaluate virus evolution."
Their study suggests the possibility that new strains of coronavirus evolved because of a complex interaction between clinical symptoms and human behavior. The group hopes that their research will speed up the establishment of testing regimes for adaptive treatment, effective screening, and isolation strategies.
More information: Isolation may select for earlier and higher peak viral load but shorter duration in SARS-CoV-2 evolution, Nature Communications (2023).
Journal information: Nature Communications
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.
As the COVID virus continues to evolve, so does our vaccine response. From December 11, Australians will have access to new vaccines that offer better protection.
These monovalent booster vaccines are expected to be a better match for currently circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.
Pfizers monovalent vaccine will be available to eligible people aged five years and older. The Moderna monovalent vaccine can be used for those aged 12 years and older.
Who is eligible for these new boosters? How do they differ from earlier ones? Do they work? Are they safe?
Read more: We're in a new COVID wave. What can we expect this time?
The federal government has accepted the Australian Technical Advisory Group (ATAGI) recommendation to use the new vaccines, after Australias regulator approved their use last month. However, vaccine eligibility has remained the same since September.
ATAGI recommends Australians aged over 75 get vaccinated if it has been six months or more since their last dose.
People aged 65 to 74 are recommended to have a 2023 booster if they havent already had one.
Adults aged 18 to 64 with underlying risk factors that increase their risk of severe COVID are also recommended to have a 2023 booster if they havent had one yet. And if theyve already had a 2023 booster, they can consider an additional dose.
For adults aged 18 to 64 without underlying risk factors who have already received a 2023 booster, an additional dose isnt recommended. But if youre aged 18 to 64 and havent had a booster in 2023, you can consider an additional dose.
Additional doses arent recommended for children without underlying conditions that increase their risk of severe COVID. A primary course is not recommended for children aged six months to five years without additional risk factors.
From monovalent
The initial COVID vaccines were monovalent. They had one target the original viral strain.
But as the virus mutated, we assigned new letters of the Greek alphabet to each variant. This brings us to Omicron. With this significant change, we saw immune evasion. The virus had changed so much the original vaccines didnt provide sufficient immunity.
To bivalent
So vaccines were updated to target an early Omicron subvariant, BA.1, plus the original ancestral strain. With two targets, these were the first of the bivalent vaccines, which were approved in Australia in 2022.
Omicron continued to evolve, leading to more immune escape, contributing to repeated waves of transmission.
The vaccines were updated again in early 2023. These newer bivalent vaccines target two strains the ancestral strain plus the subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Read more: A COVID inquiry has been announced. But is COVID still a thing? Do I need a booster?
Back to monovalent
Further changes in the virus have meant our boosters needed to be updated again. This takes us to the recent announcement.
This time the booster targets another subvariant of Omicron known as XBB.1.5 (sometimes known as Kraken).
This vaccine is monovalent once more, meaning it has only one target. The target against the original viral strain has been removed.
According to advice given to the World Health Organization in May, this is largely because immunity to this original strain is no longer required (its no longer infecting humans). Raising immunity to the original strain may also hamper the immune response to the newer component, but were not sure if this is occurring or how important this is.
The United States approved XBB.1.5-specific vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna in mid-September. These updated vaccines have also been approved in places including Europe, Canada, Japan and Singapore.
In Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved them in October.
Read more: Beyond COVID vaccines: what else could mRNA technology do for our health?
Evidence for the efficacy of these new monovalent vaccines comes from the results of research Pfizer and Moderna submitted to the TGA.
Evidence also comes from a preprint (preliminary research available online that has yet to be independently reviewed) and an update Pfizer presented to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Taken together, the available evidence shows the updated vaccines produce good levels of antibodies in laboratory studies, in humans and mice when compared to previous vaccines and when looking at multiple emerging variants, including EG.5 (sometimes known as Eris). This variant is the one causing high numbers of cases around the world currently, including in Australia. It is very similar to the XBB version contained in the updated booster.
The updated vaccines should also cover BA.2.86 or Pirola, according to early results from clinical trials and the US Centers for Disease Control. This variant is responsible for a rapidly increasing proportion of cases, with case numbers growing in Australia.
Its clear the virus is going to continue to evolve. So performance of these vaccines against new variants will continue to be closely monitored.
Read more: How evasive and transmissible is the newest omicron offshoot, BA.2.86, that causes COVID-19? 4 questions answered
The safety of the updated vaccines has also been shown to be similar to previous versions. Studies comparing them found no significant difference in terms of the adverse events reported.
Given the availability of the updated vaccines, some countries have removed their approval for earlier versions. This is because newer versions are a closer match to currently circulating strains, rather than any safety issue with the older vaccines.
Read more: Do COVID boosters cause more or fewer side effects? How quickly does protection wane? Your questions answered
The availability of updated vaccines is a welcome development, however this is not the end of the story. We need to make sure eligible people get vaccinated.
We also need to acknowledge that vaccination should form part of a comprehensive strategy to limit the impact of COVID from now on. That includes measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, focusing on ventilation and air quality, and to a lesser degree hand hygiene. Rapidly accessing antivirals if eligible is also still important, as is keeping away from others if you are infected.
Health Minister Mark Butler on Monday said the government had accepted and approved the use of the new monovalent vaccines, which have been targeted at sub-variants of the Omicron strain.
A person receives a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. AP
The new XBB.1.5 vaccines have modest improved protection against the COVID-19 strains currently circulating the community, according to a government statement, which said that all available vaccines still continued to provide strong protection against serious disease.
The latest monovalent Omicron vaccines have been approved as both primary and additional doses, with Pfizers version approved for eligible people over five years old, and Modernas for those over 12-years-old.
All currently available COVID-19 vaccines are anticipated to provide benefit to eligible people, however the monovalent Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccines are preferred over other vaccines, the ATAGI advice said.
Most Omicron subvariants currently circulating in Australia are sub-lineages of XBB.1, with BA.2.8 representing a small but growing proportion Available data suggests monovalent XBB vaccines provide modestly enhanced protection from severe disease compared to older vaccines.
It did not recommend extra doses of the new jab for people who already had their recommended 2023 dose of a COVID vaccine.
But it encouraged recommended groups those over 75, and younger people with medical comorbidities who had not been vaccinated this year to receive one as soon as possible, given there had been an increase in COVID cases across Australia this month.
There were about 160 people in hospital with COVID at the beginning of November the highest number since June, but fewer than the 430 who were hospitalised at the start of this year.
The latest data from November shows just 27 per cent of people aged 75 or over have received their booster in the last six months.
Only 20 per cent of 65- to 74-year-olds and 5.5 per cent of adults under 65 have had their top-up, although they are not in the priority age group.
Coalition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said she was concerned there had been no media campaign or public press conferences with the chief medical officer to improve awareness in the Australian community.
At a time when hospitals are dealing with historic ramping, bulk billing rates continue to plummet, and it is harder and more expensive to see a GP, the government must explain why they have failed to act quicker and protect particularly vulnerable Australians, she said.
The federal government said providers could order the new vaccine and doses should be delivered by December 11.
Butler said it demonstrated his government was committed to providing the latest and most effective vaccines.
While we are no longer in the emergency phase of this pandemic, COVID-19 is still present, and people should continue to follow the advice of the experts from ATAGI, including getting vaccines as required, Butler said.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter .
Americans can order four free COVID-19 tests again online
By
AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press
November 20, 2023, 7:47 AM ET
2 min read
WASHINGTON -- Americans can order more free COVID-19 tests online for home delivery.
The U.S. government is offering to send another round of four at-home virus tests ahead of the typical surge in cases during the winter holiday season.
Anyone who did not order a batch of four COVID-19 tests in September can secure up to eight of them this time around starting Monday at COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver them for free.
The government is mailing out the coronavirus tests as the the flu season kicks off and a spike in RSV cases has been reported in some spots around the country. Hospitalizations for COVID-19, which has killed more than 1 million people in the United States, were on the rise this fall but have stayed steady in recent weeks. Immunity from previous vaccinations and infections has kept case counts lower compared with other years.
The new release of free COVID-19 nasal swab tests also comes ahead of the first winter since the pandemic started that insurers are no longer required to cover the cost of them. On average, at-home tests now cost $11 out of pocket, according to an analysis by the nonprofit health research firm KFF.
The Food and Drug Administration also approved updated COVID-19 vaccines in September in the hopes of revving up protection for Americans this winter. The shots target an omicron descendant named XBB.1.5, replacing older vaccines that targeted the original coronavirus strain and a much earlier omicron version. Shots are recommended for everyone age 6 months or older, but uptake has been slow.
U.S. taxpayers have spent tens of billions of dollars to develop COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments in the three years since the pandemic started.
