By Karen Stokes
Dr Cameron Webb, White House Covid Response Team (Photo/New York Times)
The Biden administration announced plans to fight COVID-19 this fall and winter, when cases are expected to rise, with a focus on ensuring access to the newly-updated booster shots.
The Administration’s plan includes:
1. Getting Americans the best available protection through free and easy access to new, updated COVID-19 vaccines.
2. Ensuring that Americans continue to have easy access to COVID-19 testing and treatments to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and to keep people out of the hospital.
3. Calling on all Americans to use every tool at their disposal to keep communities safe and schools and businesses open.
4. Preparing for potential surges and new variants and building a resilient national COVID-19 response moving forward.
“The difference between the updated vaccine is that they are bivalent,” said Dr. Cameron Webb, White House COVID Response Team. “They have protection against the original SARS virus that causes COVID but also have protection against the Omicron variants specifically BA. 4 and BA. 5 which are the two sub variants that have been causing all the problems within the last several months.”
As we head into the fall, there is a potential for an increase in infections, in part due to increased waning of immunity from vaccines and prior infection.
“Weather has an effect on all respiratory infections. In colder weather people are indoors more often, there’s more of a possibility of spreading. With COVID we see a high level of spread with people coming together,” said Dr. Webb.
As we saw last fall with the emergence of Omicron, we must continue to stay prepared for the possibility of a potential new variant of concern.
The Administration’s plan to manage COVID-19 this fall focuses on making sure that Americans continue to have easy and equitable access to lifesaving tools, particularly the updated COVID-19 vaccines, and encouraging Americans to use them.
Dr. Webb indicated that we may be moving in the direction that the COVID vaccine could be annual, similar to the flu shot.
Daily COVID-19 deaths are down nearly 90 percent since the President took office, and when properly used, the tools we now have can prevent nearly all COVID-19 deaths.
The Administration’s plan to manage COVID-19 this fall focuses on making sure that Americans continue to have easy and equitable access to lifesaving tools, particularly the updated COVID-19 vaccines, and encouraging Americans to use them.
“The vaccine is currently being shipped around the country,” said Dr. Webb. “For more information go to vaccine.gov to see where the new updated vaccines are available in your community.