After Wednesday’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration and expected signoff Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 booster shots targeting omicron variants could start rolling out by Labor Day weekend. As the federal government does away with sending free at-home COVID tests, many free or low-cost options remain for Bay Area residents. A California senator from San Francisco shelved a bill that would have allowed young people ages 15 and older to obtain vaccines without the consent of a parent.
CDC forecasts an “uncertain” trajectory for COVID deaths
After predicting a “likely decrease” in COVID deaths in the U.S. last week for the first time in months, in its latest update the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention again predicts that virus-related fatalities will “remain stable or have an uncertain trend” over the next month. An average of 387 Americans are now dying due to COVID-19 per day, but ensemble forecasts show that between 1,800 to 4,900 new deaths — or as many as 700 per day — could be reported in the week ending September 24. California is likely to see over 300 additional deaths in that time.
FDA approves vaccine boosters targeting omicron subvariant
The Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorizations for the Pfizer and Modera coronavirus booster vaccines that target the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must still approve the booster shots, the targeted vaccine boosters could start rolling out by the Labor Day weekend. Eligibility for the targeted boosters will depend on a person’s age, when they received their initial vaccines and when they received their most recent non-targeted COVID booster, according to the FDA.
When should you get the new omicron-specific booster shot?
The reformulated versions made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are called bivalent because they work against both the original coronavirus and the currently dominant BA.5 and BA.4 subvariants. Their use is designed to increase protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19 during a potential surge this fall or winter, as the effectiveness of earlier vaccinations wanes. Here’s what you need to know about the new vaccines.
UCSF’s Bob Wachter says getting omicron booster is a “straightforward call”
UCSF’s chair of medicine, Dr. Bob Wachter, tweeted Wednesday morning that getting the COVID booster shots targeting omicron subvariants as soon as possible seemed “like a pretty straightforward call.” While Wachter said some may choose to wait for cases to rise before getting a booster, “‘timing the market’ usually doesn’t work,” he said.
Pfizer plans to offer an updated booster for 5- to 11-year-olds in October
Pfizer and BioNTech plan to submit an application for an omicron-adapted bivalent vaccine for children 5 through 11 years to the FDA in early October, the companies said in a press release to investors on Wednesday. They are also working with the agency to prepare an application for a bivalent vaccine in children 6 months through 4 years of age. The companies praised the FDA’s authorization of the booster doses targeting the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants for adults in the memo. “As we head into the fall and winter season, with the potential for greater SARS-CoV-2 spread in schools and at work, it is important to stay up to date with vaccines as a first line of defense against COVID-19 illness,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s CEO, in a statement. “We are thrilled by today’s news, another important milestone in our ongoing efforts to provide protection against this virus.”
Tens of thousands of veterans battling long COVID, government reports
A government report estimates that about 24,000 to 42,000 veterans in the U.S. are suffering from lingering medical problems associated with a coronavirus infection and urges health care workers to better monitor patients for signs of long COVID. The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a report Tuesday outlining the wide range of signs and symptoms associated with post-infection complications. It also said the number of those afflicted could be “much higher, as the VA has more than 6 million veterans in care.” More than 615,000 veterans connected to the VA health care system had confirmed COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to Military Times. More than 22,000 have died from complications related to the illness, with around 5,000 deaths in 2022 alone. “VA research has led to key findings about long COVID, including that patients who recovered from COVID-19 were significantly more likely to have heart and vascular disease a year after infection; patients who contracted COVID-19 had a 60% higher risk of mental health challenges one year after recovering; and more,” department officials said in a statement regarding Tuesday’s report.
COVID antibodies in children peak after 1 to 3 months, study finds
In a group of non-hospitalized children under 16, coronavirus neutralizing antibody levels peaked one to three months after they tested positive for COVID-19, according to a study published Tuesday in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers in Singapore analyzed antibody responses in 126 children from Feb. 2020 to Sept. 2021, before omicron became prevalent, with a median age of 7.4 years. They found that the levels peaked at about 84% within the first three months of infection but stayed robust for about 13 months. “The findings suggest that risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection in younger children is lower than in adults, which has important implications for scheduling COVID-19 vaccination after infection,” the study authors said. “The findings also broaden the understanding about less severe clinical disease in younger children.”
In an accompanying editorial, Catherine Mary Healy of Baylor College of Medicine said the sample size is likely too small to draw definitive conclusions and the results are unlikely to hold with newer variants. “Emerging data suggest that the new BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 omicron subvariants are capable of escaping neutralizing antibodies produced by prior infection with the omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants, thus explaining current surges in infection in communities with high rates of prior infection, vaccination, or both,” she wrote.
Where to get free COVID tests in the Bay Area after the federal giveaway stops
This is the last week people can request free at-home COVID-19 test kits from the U.S. government. But there are still many low-cost or free testing options for Bay Area residents at pharmacies or community-based sites. Local testing options are listed on county health department websites and can typically be found through a quick online search. In most cases, the counties will bill health insurance companies for anyone with coverage. Read more about how and where to get rapid antigen or PCR tests after the federal test kits program halts on Sept. 2.
