The risk of getting sick with COVID-19 is higher for Stokes County residents than it’s been since early March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Stokes is one of 13 counties that rank among the highest COVID-19 levels in the country, according to the CDC. The CDC offers a county-by-county map that color-codes every county in the United States as “low,” “medium” or “high” levels of COVID-19 community transmission. The CDC determines the community level by counting the number of new COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and hospital beds in use by COVID-19 patients.
The CDC recommends but does not require wearing a mask within counties in the “high” category.
Within the Triad, the CDC reports the other counties with “high” COVID-19 transmission are Alamance, Forsyth, , Surry, Yadkin, Alleghany and Davie.Guilford, Davidson and Wilkes counties are ranked medium. Caswell, Montgomery, Randolph and Rockingham counties are ranked low.
Beyond the Triad, North Carolina’s other high-ranking counties are Durham, Granville, Hyde, Person, Pitt, Vance and Warren counties.
In the latest local statistics, updated by the Stokes County Health Department on Wednesday, June 8, there were 125 active cases and three persons hospitalized with COVID. That’s a decrease of six active cases from last week, but there were no hospitalizations one week ago. There have been just under 100 new cases reported in the past week.
The total number of lab-confirmed cases in the county over the course of the pandemic is approaching 12,000, at 11,970. There have been 181 deaths.
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Even as the U.S. grapples with its most recent wave of COVID-19, new research suggests that variants on the horizon may keep case levels high. The next influx of infections will probably come from the newer omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, two closely related viruses that were first characterized in South Africa and that landed in the United States around late March, according to the gene sequence sharing site GISAID. These variants are gaining ground against BA.2, particularly in the central part of the country. Recent research suggests that they escape immunity created by vaccines and past infections. According to the most recent updates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the genomics company Helix, BA.4 and BA.5 together accounted for an estimated 6% to 7% of new infections in the U.S. in late May.
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White House officials say orders have been coming in for COVID-19 vaccine doses for small children. Federal authorization of shots for U.S. kids under 5 is possible next week. The government last week began allowing pharmacies and states to place orders, with 5 million doses initially available. So far, about 1.45 million of the 2.5 million available doses of Pfizer have been ordered. About 850,000 of available Moderna shots have been ordered. Young children are the last group of Americans who have not been recommended to get COVID vaccinations. Up to about 20 million U.S. children under 5 would become eligible for vaccination if the government authorizes one or both shots.
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After more than a year with two types of COVID vaccines in use in the United States, another will be up for consideration by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week. The FDA’s vaccine advisers are set to meet Tuesday to consider Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine for the nation. Based on data included in an agency briefing document posted Friday, an FDA review found that the vaccine’s efficacy was 90.4% overall against mild, moderate or severe COVID-19 for a period of 2½ months after completing the two-dose primary series. The document notes that, in a primary analysis, the vaccine efficacy fell to 78.6% among adults 65 and older. Those efficacy numbers were collected before the emergence of the omicron coronavirus variant. It remains unclear how long protection lasts or how well the vaccine will protect against omicron. In an announcement published in December, the company reported that the vaccine had “broad cross-reactivity against omicron and other circulating variants from a primary 2-dose regimen, with responses that increased following a third dose at six months.” Novavax’s vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373, is given as two doses three weeks apart for the primary vaccination series.
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A COVID-19 vaccine that could soon win federal approval may offer a boost for the U.S. military: an opportunity to get shots into some of the thousands of service members who have refused the other coronavirus vaccines for religious reasons. Already, at least 175 active duty and reserve service members have received the Novavax vaccine. Some have traveled overseas at their own expense to get it. The Novavax vaccine meets Defense Department requirements because it has the World Health Organization’s emergency use approval and is used in Europe and other regions. Military officials say many troops who refuse the shots cite certain COVID-19 vaccines’ remote connection to abortions.
