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At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, it would have been hard to imagine that, a full two years later, we would still be navigating our way out of a continually-shifting COVID maze. It’s not over; the U.S. is still counting roughly 1,500 COVID deaths every day. But following a sharp surge in illnesses due to the Omicron variant in December and January, cases and hospitalizations have steadily declined, offering up hope for a return to some normalcy in the near future.
“What we’re seeing now are really some of the lowest levels of COVID-19 disease activity and hospitalizations of the entire pandemic,” says Dr. Lori Handy, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Even better, Dr. Handy says, that as we head into outdoor-activity-friendly spring and summer, we’ll likely have “many months in this state of low level activity.”
In other words, for many, it appears better days are ahead — but the swiftly-evolving landscape means some guidelines can be confusing.
Read on for five things, from mask mandates to infant and toddler vaccine news, to know about COVID right now.
Covid infection numbers are dropping
Dr. Handy notes that at least two factors play into these declining numbers. With more robust immunity through vaccines and natural infection, “we are different hosts as a population,” she says — meaning that, even after exposure, our immune systems are more likely to fight off infection. The second factor, according to Dr. Handy, is that the virus is now less virulent than what we saw in 2020.
Combined with seasonality (we spend less time indoors in the warmer months), these factors set us up for a new stage of the pandemic—one in which COVID acts more like a seasonal virus. “That means we’ll have times in our community where there’s increase in virus activity, and decrease in virus activity, and we’ll respond to that,” she says. “But we won’t live forever with pandemic mitigation.”
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Mask Mandates are Lifting
As infections drop, the CDC has relaxed its mask guidance, focusing on the number of hospitalizations in the county to determine whether masks are recommended. (You can check your county community levelon the CDC website.) Meanwhile, most local and state governments have lifted mask mandates. (Hawaii will be the last state to lift theirs, starting March 26.)
Dr. Handy notes that the same factors propelling declining COVID infections (less virulent infection, more widespread immunity) are the ones that make it okay to loosen mask mandates.
Still, while many can celebrate taking off masks in most cases (mandates are still currently in place for air travel, for example, perTSA requirementsset to expire March 18), some may be more hesitant.
“We’ll continue to have people in the population for whom COVID-19 could still be a more severe illness; folks with pre existing medical conditions, or the immune-compromised,” says Dr. Handy.
Those individuals may continue to be more selective about their activities, particularly at times when the virus has a higher transmission rate: “Now it may be much more evident to people that we have individuals in our society who take different measures when we have circulating viruses at higher levels than normal.”
Vaccine rates could stand to improve
According to Dr. Handy vaccination numbers, particularly for children, are still much lower than medical professionals would like to see.
Vaccines have been shown to prevent serious illness and hospitalization in all ages. In January, for example, the rate of hospitalization for unvaccinated adults over 18 from severe COVID cases was seven times higher than for vaccinated people. During the Omicron variant surge, hospitalization rates in unvaccinated adolescents were 11 times higher than for the vaccinated. And among those hospitalized with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children—a condition that can occur after contracting COVID—all whoneeded life support were unvaccinated.
“For parents to remember, the main goal of vaccinating our children against any infection is really to prevent severe disease and hospitalization,” she says. “So even if you know an illness is likely to be mild in your child, you still want to get vaccinated to prevent that rare severe infection, particularly when you have a vaccine that’s so safe and so well studied,as the COVID-19 vaccines are.”
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Booster shots may or may not be needed
Recommendations surrounding COVID vaccine booster shots have been a little confusing at times, as guidelines have changed as new information emerges.
Currently, two weeks after your second dose of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) and two weeks after one shot (J&J/Janssen), you’re considered fully vaccinated, whether or not you opt for a booster shot. However,data suggeststhe immunity from the vaccine can wane over time, so a booster five months after your second dose is available for those over 12; for some adults, including people over 65, a booster is strongly advised.
Although talk of a fourth dose of the vaccine was heard during the Omicron variant spike, at leastone study, published in early February, suggests that for most of the population there’s no need for a fourth dose. One exception is for immunocompromised folks, who may need a booster in the future.
“We want to be boosting those [immunocompromised] individuals, because boosters, again, prevent severe disease and hospitalization,” Dr. Handy says. “We need to use boosters when we need them, but not for everybody all the time.”
To keep up on the latest info, follow theCDC guidelinesfor who should get boosters in your age group.
News on the under-five vaccine is coming in April
The timing for that additional dose trial means that the results of the three dose study will be evaluated in April.
Whenever the vaccine does become available, Dr. Handy advises vaccinating your child, regardless of whether they are close to five (and thus, would get a higher dose of the vaccine). “Begin this series with the dose that is right for your child at that moment,” she says. “I never recommend delaying vaccines to get to the next age range, because that just then leads to time where your child is unvaccinated and vulnerable. "
source: people.com
