Boosters For Everyone!

 

Two years ago this week, the United States lost 18,508 people in 7 days to COVID-19. (Weekly deaths from SARS-CoV-2 would reach a pandemic peak a month later at 23,366, for an average of 3,338 per day.) A year later, with COVID vaccines and boosters widely available, 9,572 Americans succumbed to the infection the week of December 12, 2021. Just last week, the CDC COVID Data Tracker counted 2,981 deaths over the previous 7-day period (on average, that’s 425 dying from COVID-19 every day).

We seem to be in a better place at the end of 2022, mostly due to high overall public immunity resulting from effective vaccines and natural infections. But we’re not out of the woods yet. With new cases of influenza and RSV still slamming clinics and hospitals, COVID-19 infections are rising as predicted after the recent Thanksgiving holiday and two weeks to go until Christmas, The New York Times reports:

Conditions are worsening across the country, with reported cases and hospitalizations up more than 25 percent in the past two weeks and test positivity rates rising quickly.

The current surge is milder so far than at this point in previous winter waves, but its nationwide scope is concerning. Since Thanksgiving, all but four states have seen hospitalization counts increase.

 

As 2022 winds down, Spencer Kimball says face masks are making a comeback:

The Centers for Disease Control Prevention on Monday encouraged people to wear masks to help reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses this season as Covid, flu and RSV circulate at the same time.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, in a call with reporters, said wearing a mask is one of several everyday precautions that people can take to reduce their chances of catching or spreading a respiratory virus during the busy holiday season.

“We also encourage you to wear a high-quality, well-fitting mask to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses,” said Walensky, adding that people living in areas with high levels of Covid transmission should especially consider masking.

 

It’s a good idea for everyone to take every precaution to prevent the spread of respiratory illnesses this time of year by increasing the layers of protection available to us. Research shows that properly wearing a well-fitting face mask in a crowded indoor setting significantly reduces transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses.

 

Keeping indoor spaces well-ventilated can help reduce the risk of transmission. Good hand hygiene washes away many harmful human pathogens. And another simple but key strategy that decreases the risk to others: Stay home when you’re not feeling well to avoid sharing those nasty bugs with other people!

Of course, there is no better way to protect yourself and others against COVID-19 and influenza than to get vaccinated and boosted! Unfortunately, only 69% of Americans have completed the primary series of COVID vaccines. That number is too low. And sadly, after nearly 3 years of living and sacrificing through a global pandemic, experiencing the loss of 1,080,472 fellow Americans, and knowing that millions more are suffering for months with seriously debilitating long-COVID symptoms, only 13.5% who are eligible to get a dose of the updated booster vaccine have done so.

Think about that for a moment: 85% of Americans who could get the new booster — shown to be very effective in preventing infection, and, more importantly, serious outcomes in people who do get COVID-19 — haven’t bothered getting one.

COVID vaccine uptake has been slow for infants and young children:

Shots for youngest children in the United States were only approved in June this year, making them the last group to become eligible for vaccination.

Government data shows that only 2.7% children under the age of two and less than 5% of children aged two to four years who are eligible have completed their primary vaccination series as of Nov. 30, representing a slow uptake of the initial vaccine doses in young children.

 

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration recommended that children as young as 6 months of age should get the updated bivalent COVID booster:

“More children now have the opportunity to update their protection against COVID-19 with a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, and we encourage parents and caregivers of those eligible to consider doing so – especially as we head into the holidays and winter months where more time will be spent indoors,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “As this virus has changed, and immunity from previous COVID-19 vaccination wanes, the more people who keep up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations, the more benefit there will be for individuals, families and public health by helping prevent severe illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths.”

 

The number of children and adults in the U.S. who have received influenza vaccines this season is also lagging behind previous years, which explains why clinics and hospitals are bursting at the seams with infected (and contagious) patients. It’s also the main reason why parents are having a hard time finding over-the-counter pain-relievers and fever-reducers. We will examine that problem tomorrow on The PediaBlog.

Read the FDA’s announcement about how doses of the bivalent COVID booster will be administered to infants and children here.

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/12/12/boosters-for-everyone/