Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Covid Shots Reaching Health Providers And Pharmacies; Who Will Get One?
CBS News: Looking For The New COVID Vaccine Booster? Here's Where To Get The Shot
Reformulated vaccine is already available at some pharmacies and will be more widely accessible starting next week. (Cerullo, 9/14)
North Carolina Health News: Get The New COVID Booster, Public Health Officials Say
We’ve lived with COVID-19 for three and a half years now, and just when it seems like we’re close to declaring checkmate, the SARS-CoV-2 virus shows its uncanny ability to survive. This coronavirus is a master at evolving, throwing variant after variant at us. (Blythe, 9/15)
KFF Health News: A New Covid Booster Is Here. Will Those At Greatest Risk Get It?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends new covid-19 booster vaccines for all — but many who need them most won’t get them. About 75% of people in the United States appear to have skipped last year’s bivalent booster, and nothing suggests uptake will be better this time around. “Urging people to get boosters has really only worked for Democrats, college graduates, and people making over $90,000 a year,” said Gregg Gonsalves, an epidemiologist at Yale University. “Those are the same people who will get this booster because it’s not like we’re doing anything differently to confront the inequities in place.” (Maxmen, 9/15)
In other pandemic news —
Reuters: US CDC Expects 'Tripledemic' Hospitalizations To Remain High This Year Vs Pre-Pandemic Levels
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday it expects the total number of hospitalizations from COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus infections and flu this year to be similar to last year, higher than pre-pandemic levels. The government health agency also said it expects flu and RSV infections to increase over the fall and winter seasons. (9/14)
USA Today: Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Was Tested On More Than 4 Rats | Fact Check
A Sept. 12 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a post on X, formerly Twitter, about a newly approved COVID-19 vaccine. “The new FDA-approved COVID shots were tested on four rats,” reads part of the post. "Yes, four rats. Four. Rats." ... The post misinterprets a study that involved 44 rats, not four. And it was published in 2021, long before the latest version of the vaccine was developed. (McCreary, 9/14)
CIDRAP: California Healthcare Industry Had Highest COVID-19 Death Rate Of All Occupations Early In Pandemic
In the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Californians who worked in healthcare, "other services," manufacturing, transportation, and retail trade industries had higher death rates than the professional, scientific, and technical industries, which had some of the lowest rates, finds a study published today in the Annals of Epidemiology. California Department of Public Health researchers used death certificates to identify COVID-19 deaths that occurred from January 2020 to May 2022 among 17.7 million residents ages 18 to 64 years. They also used the Current Population Survey to estimate the number of working-age adults at risk of COVID-19 death. (Van Beusekom, 9/14)
CIDRAP: Study Shows Value Of Wastewater Surveillance For Early Detection Of Flu, RSV
Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers in Wisconsin show how during the 2022-23 respiratory diseases season, high concentrations of influenza A virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in wastewater samples in three Wisconsin cities preceded virus-associated emergency department (ED) visits. The authors say the study provides more evidence that wastewater surveillance can detect viral signals earlier than other surveillance methods. (Soucheray, 9/14)
CIDRAP: Trial: Alternative COVID Vaccine 75% Cross-Protective Against Symptomatic Cases In Previously Infected
A phase 3 randomized, controlled trial in adults in eight countries concludes that a protein-based vaccine targeting both the wild-type and Beta SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins is an estimated 75.1% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 among previously infected people and 30.9% among those never-infected amid Omicron variant predominance. The researchers said the findings, published yesterday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, suggest that vaccines developed with an antigen from a non-dominant SARS-CoV-2 strain can provide cross-protection against newer variants. (Van Beusekom, 9/14)
