Health officials have said they expect a similar or slightly better respiratory virus season this year — if Americans continue to get vaccinated.
They recommended that more Americans get annual shots for Covid-19 and the flu, and for less active and older Americans to get a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) shot.
The statement comes as the country appears to have reached the peak of the summer Covid-19 wave and as Americans enter the fall and winter holidays, when respiratory viruses tend to circulate in indoor gatherings of families and friends.
“CDC projects this respiratory period will have the same or lower number of hospitalizations,” across Covid-19, influenza and RSV, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a press conference on. Friday.
However, he warned, “there are a lot of assumptions built into that, including that people are going to be vaccinated”.
In anticipation of the winter surge, the Food and Drug Administration this week approved a slate of updated Covid-19 vaccines to keep up with what they believe will be a circulating crisis. The monovalent vaccine – or one type – for Covid-19 is based on the Omicron KP.2 type, available under the names Comirnaty or Spikevax.
“The good news is that, so far, the updated vaccines are very similar to the KP.3 family of viruses that are becoming more and more potent,” Cohen said.
He also said that even though the US is still sick, hospitals have not seen the same wave of hospitalizations and deaths. Cohen also said later that “vaccination rates of Americans continue to go down more than I want to see”.
The Cohen Center recommends that more Americans get vaccinated in September or October, in anticipation of a flurry of winter illnesses. Single-dose immunizations are available for all Americans 12 years of age and older; children six to 11 months old are also eligible for the mRNA vaccine and should receive between one and three doses depending on their previous vaccination history.
“Based on the available evidence, it is expected that the new vaccines will provide better protection,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA. “We strongly encourage those eligible for the updated Covid-19 vaccine to get the updated vaccine,” Marks said.
Marks also noted that vaccines could provide a 50% reduction in chronic Covid, a still poorly understood post-viral illness characterized by fatigue, brain fog and palpitations.
“To put things in perspective, mRNA Covid-19 vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of people in the US, and the benefits of these vaccines have been outweighing the risks in humans for six months and more,” said Marks.
In March, the FDA approved a trivalent, or three-type, flu vaccine. The vaccine will contain two strains of influenza A (H1N1 and H3N2) and one strain of influenza B. Cohen said his agency recommends getting the annual shot and the Covid-19 vaccine in a timely manner. one. A flu shot is recommended, “uncommonly”, for everyone six months of age and older.
For RSV, the CDC recommends some infants and Americans over age 75 get vaccinated. The vaccine is also recommended for people 60 years of age and older, who have a weakened immune system, chronic lung and heart conditions or who live in a nursing home.
In an effort to reduce the spread of respiratory viruses this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which the CDC and FDA are part, are also emphasizing testing, treatment and education.
Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS, said the government will begin its program to send four free tests for Covid-19 through Covidtests.gov.
An over-the-counter antiviral treatment shown to reduce the severity of Covid-19 called Paxlovid will be available to people with health insurance through Medicare (for the elderly and disabled), Medicaid (for (low-income and disabled) uninsured by the end of 2024.
HHS will also run a national advertising campaign called “Risk Less. Do More” to encourage people at high risk of respiratory viral infections to get vaccinated. The campaign will have “messages tailored for people living in rural areas, Black and Latino populations and pregnant women”, said Jeff Nesbit, assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS.
“There is no denying the great progress we have made against Covid in the last few years and that today we are well prepared and have a lot of resources to protect ourselves,” said Cohen. “The best winter plan is for everyone to stay alert and use the tools we have.”
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