COVID Again

[phkrause]

Axios-Ipsos poll: COVID risk rises

Data: Axios-Ipsos poll. Chart: Erin Davis/Axios Visuals Nearly one-third of Americans see COVID as a threat to their health — but the summertime wave of infections hasn't changed the belief that the virus is no worse than seasonal flu, according to the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. Why it matters: Comparing COVID to the flu was once an incendiary political talking point. Now, it's where many people have landed, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. With infections believed to be growing in more than two dozen states, 32% of those polled said COVID poses a large or moderate risk to their health, compared with 27% in early June. They rate the risk about the same as that for the flu, RSV or other respiratory illnesses. 13% said they've worn a face mask in public in the past week. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

Free at-home COVID test program to resume in September

The federal government plans to relaunch its free COVID-19 home testing program at the end of September after suspending the program in March.

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/23/free-covid-test-kits-return-september-2024-usps?

[phkrause]

Zuckerberg says the White House pressured Facebook over some COVID-19 content during the pandemic

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.

https://apnews.com/article/meta-platforms-mark-zuckerberg-biden-facebook-covid19-463ac6e125b0d004b16c7943633673fc?

[phkrause]

COVID-19 government disaster loans saved businesses, but saddled survivors with debt

NEW YORK (AP) — In 2020 and 2021, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans were a lifeline for small businesses.

https://apnews.com/article/small-business-monitor-loans-f428495df9cbfd16b6495ac00a03d760?

[phkrause]

COVID Vaccines Advised for Fall Include a Newer Option: Novavax

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all Americans age 6 months and older get an updated 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine this fall to protect against potentially serious complications from the virus.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/coronavirus/covid-vaccines-advised-for-fall-will-include-novavax/?

[phkrause]

The US is mailing Americans COVID tests again. Here’s how to get them

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans can once again order COVID-19 tests, without being charged, sent straight to their homes.

https://apnews.com/article/where-when-to-get-free-covid-tests-b5ae801def3a087476449b534787d663?

[phkrause]

💉 Most Americans done with COVID boosters

Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios

A majority of Americans (60%) don't plan to get the most current COVID vaccine, Axios' Maya Goldman writes from a new Pew survey. Why it matters: There's a deep partisan divide around COVID vaccination, especially among adults over the age of 65 who remain at increased risk. The CDC in June recommended everyone over the age of 6 months get an updated COVID vaccine ahead of the coming respiratory virus season. 📊 About 60% of Democrats surveyed said they'll probably get, or already have gotten, the updated vaccine — compared with just 18% of Republicans. 🐘 About 30% of Republican seniors said they have gotten or likely would get the vaccine, compared with 84% of Democrats ages 65 and up.

[phkrause]

5 years ago today

Via X Five years ago today, a "pneumonia of unknown cause" with a total of 44 cases — later known as COVID-19 — was first reported in China. Why it matters: It changed the world, triggering a cascade of lockdowns that upended economies and sparked political upheaval across the globe. Full timeline.

[phkrause]

5 things we know and still don’t know about COVID, 5 years after it appeared

Five years ago, a cluster of people in Wuhan, China, fell sick with a virus never before seen in the world.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-vaccine-variant-omicron-deaths-wuhan-lab-1ae8a7b3e6e034e03722f17e7aad34cb?

[phkrause]

Meet the Americans who still take COVID-19 precautions seriously

Susan Scarbro stares down a bowling lane at the distant pins.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-pandemic-masks-anniversary-34f2fb0ea729e71c0809295d3e62744b?

ps:Good for them!!

[phkrause]

Axios-Ipsos poll: COVID still splits us

Data: Axios-Ipsos poll. Chart: Axios Visuals Five years after the COVID pandemic began, its legacy is as much political as epidemiological, Adriel Bettelheim and Margaret Talev write from a comprehensive new Axios-Ipsos poll. Why it matters: Trust in public health institutions and leaders declined and never fully recovered. 🔢 By the numbers: Majorities of Americans still trust the CDC and the NIH — and say the government should keep funding COVID monitoring and prevention measures. But more than half believe public health officials lied to the public about how effective vaccines and masks were at preventing the virus' spread. Keep reading.

[phkrause]

5 years later: How COVID-19 precautions still influence theme parks, tourism

Five years ago, tourism officials were wrapping their heads around a new world of theme park reservations, temperature checks at turnstiles, amped-up sanitization procedures and the very concept of social distance as the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly transformed their business.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/03/27/theme-parks-pandemic-five-years/?

[phkrause]

RFK Jr.’s FDA Severely Restricts COVID Vaccine Use

The vaccine will only be available to those at high risk from COVID—excluding those who may need it to protect a relative or friend.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine—with strict conditions.

Coming after four years of clinical trials, the vaccine will only be available for older adults and people over the age of 12 who have at least one medical condition that means they’re at high risk from COVID, according to The New York Times.

Advisers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been debating whether to recommend COVID vaccines for only the most vulnerable. The decision to restrict who can access the Novavax vaccine would appear to resolve the question, at least in part.

The restrictions mean that healthy adults under the age of 65 who may want the vaccine for reasons other than their own health—to protect an immunocompromised relative or friend, for example—will not be able to get the Novavax vaccine. It also leaves those same people vulnerable if a more virulent strain of COVID comes along.

Critics have expressed concern that the restrictions reflect Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr‘s vaccine skepticism, with one ousted FDA vaccine chief describing Kennedy’s tenure thus far as “very scary.”

The vaccine was previously only authorized for emergency use, whereas vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were granted full approval by the FDA in 2022. Both of those companies are currently developing updated versions of their vaccines for the fall.

The New York Times spoke to Dr. Camille Kotton, an infectious disease physician and former CDC adviser, who said that the decision to restrict access was “incredibly disappointing.” She continued, “I don’t know why they would make this restriction; I don’t know of any indication to make this change.“

Kotton, who cares for immunocompromised patients at Massachusetts General Hospital, added, “This is a dark day in American medicine.”

 

[phkrause]

How Science Beat the Virus

And what it lost in the process

By Ed Yong

 

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a collection of work by Ed Yong that earned the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/01/science-covid-19-manhattan-project/617262/

[phkrause]

• 💉 New COVID booster rules could limit shots for people under 65. Go deeper.

ps:If someone wants a booster they should be able to get one!!!!!

[phkrause]

Your Doctor May Still Recommend COVID Vaccines – Here’s Why

May 27, 2025 – The Trump administration announced today that the CDC will no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for many children and pregnant people.

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20250527/doctor-still-recommend-covid-vaccine?

ps:They should!! Just like for any virus!!!!

[phkrause]

Covid-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, continues to evolve. A new strain called NB.1.8.1 has been detected in several states and designated a variant under monitoring by the World Health Organization. Since NB.1.8.1 is a part of the Omicron family, the WHO said that currently approved Covid-19 vaccines should be effective. However, in recent weeks, the Department of Health and Human Services has made significant changes to how Covid-19 vaccines are approved and which groups they are recommended for. A new framework could limit Covid-19 vaccines to older Americans and people at higher risk of serious infection. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also said the vaccine will no longer be recommended for pregnant women and healthy children.

[phkrause]

Should Your Kid Get the COVID Shot? A Pediatrician Weighs In

May 30, 2025 – On May 29, the CDC revised its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children, shifting from a universal recommendation to a "shared clinical decision-making" approach, leaving the decision to families and their health care providers. This update followed an announcement earlier this week by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the agency would stop recommending COVID vaccines for healthy children. 

https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20250530/should-your-kid-get-the-covid-shot-a-pediatrician-weighs-in?