CDC Advises Covid Boosters For 5- To 11-Year-Olds
A key advisory panel at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has thrown its weight behind a third covid vaccine shot for children between 5 and 11. CDC director Rochelle Walensky approved the recommendation and also encouraged parents whose children have yet to get first shots to do so.
The Washington Post:
CDC Advisors Recommend Booster Shot For Children Ages 5 To 11
CDC director Rochelle Walensky greenlit the recommendation Thursday evening, and she also encouraged parents of children in that age group who have not yet been vaccinated to get their first shot soon. “Vaccination with a primary series among this age group has lagged behind other age groups leaving them vulnerable to serious illness,” Walensky said. “With over 18 million doses administered in this age group, we know that these vaccines are safe, and we must continue to increase the number of children who are protected.” (Shepherd, 5/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
CDC Recommends Covid-19 Boosters For 5- To 11-Year-Olds
Also Thursday, the CDC said it was strengthening its recommendation that people 12 years and older who are immunocompromised, or who are 50 and older, should receive a second booster dose at least four months after their first. Pfizer expects there will be plenty of doses available for boosting the children. Many families may choose not to get the shots, however. Less than a third of children in the age group have been fully vaccinated. (Whyte and Hopkins, 5/19)
In related news about the CDC —
Bloomberg:
Insiders Bemoan Culture, Data Gaps That Limit CDC In Crises
An internal review by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has uncovered deep concerns among current and former employees and other federal health officials about its urgency, responsiveness and culture, according to interviews with more than half a dozen people involved in the process. Findings from the review announced last month, some of which could be released in coming weeks, may give CDC Director Rochelle Walensky momentum to usher in change at an agency that’s been criticized by members of Congress, prominent health experts and local public officials for not having the tools and culture needed to respond effectively to a pandemic that’s resulted in one million deaths. (Armstrong and Griffin, 5/18)
In other updates on the spread of covid —
Axios:
America's COVID Apathy Stress Test
America's in the midst of yet another coronavirus surge, setting up a high-stakes test of whether the country really is ready to live with the virus. A third of Americans say the pandemic is over, and the spike in cases hasn't prompted much noticeable policy or behavioral change. But vaccines and therapeutics are now widely available, making the virus much less dangerous — at least for people who have access to and choose to use them. (Owens, 5/19)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
In Georgia, More Of The Vaccinated And Boosted Landing In Hospital With COVID-19
As summer once again brings signs of a coming COVID-19 wave, an unusual trend has emerged: The Georgians who are fully vaccinated and boosted are increasingly winding up in the hospital with serious COVID-19 symptoms. The phenomenon points to two changes in the unpredictable pandemic battleground more than two years in. The circulating omicron variant has become better at evading the vaccine, which was designed on the first version of coronavirus to appear in China. And the people most likely to get boosted are those who were most vulnerable to begin with: the elderly, or patients with pre-existing conditions. Despite the extra vaccine protection, those people remain the most vulnerable. Even in light of the unexpected hospitalizations of those vaccinated and boosted, doctors say it’s still true that boosted groups are the least likely to die. (Hart and Hansen, 5/19)
The Boston Globe:
With COVID-19 Cases On The Rise, Boston Health Officials Urge Residents To Take Precautions
“We have noted a significant increase in both COVID-19 cases and in hospitalizations,” Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said in a statement. “We need to decrease onward transmission to others. Please test prior to gatherings, wear a well-fitted mask in indoor settings, including public transportation and get boosted if you have not been already. ”The state’s largest city has seen a weekslong rise in cases and hospitalizations, the statement from the commission said. The city is now averaging 61 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents per day and community test positivity is now at 11.5 percent. (Finucane, 5/19)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Another COVID-19 Surge? Utah Cases, Positivity Rates And Deaths Are All Up, State Reports
There was little but bad news in the Utah Department of Health’s weekly COVID-19 report on Thursday: More cases, a high positivity rate and more deaths than the week before. “We’re in a surge phase again,” Dr. Brandon Webb, chair of Intermountain Healthcare’s COVID-19 therapeutics team, said in a news conference Thursday afternoon. There were 4,504 new coronavirus cases and four more deaths in Utah in the past seven days, the health department reported. The number of new cases this week was more than a thousand more than the 3,385 reported last Thursday. The state’s seven-day average of new cases rose from 486.3 to about 645. (Pierce and Miller, 5/19)
KHN:
High-Tech’s Business Model Hasn’t Worked For The Cue Covid Test
“I’ve got this,” coos Gal Gadot in Cue Health’s Super Bowl TV commercial. Cue hired the “Wonder Woman” actress to be the voice of the company’s new high-tech covid-19 testing device. The ad pushes the notion that the at-home covid test produces results equal in accuracy to a lab-based PCR test and surpasses it in convenience. What it doesn’t mention is the price: $249 for the reusable device and $195 for a pack of three tests. (Taub, 5/20)
