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Public Service Announcement: CDC recommends new Covid shots this fall [1]

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Date: 2024-06-27  

As reported by Apoorva Mandavilli for the New York Times:

All Americans ages 6 months and older should receive one of the new Covid-19 vaccines when they become available this fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The recommendation comes as the nation faces a summer wave of Covid, with the number of infections rising in at least 39 states and territories.

The article describes the new variants (mutations) , KP.3 and LB.1, “which account for more than half of new cases,” as well as JN.1 which occupied this winter and spring. As Mandavilli reports, “there is no evidence that [these] variants cause more severe illness,” although the new mutations seem to contribute to evading immune system defenses, thus contributing to COVID spreading faster.

As Mandavilli notes:

The biggest risk factor for severe illness is age. Adults ages 65 and older account for two-thirds of Covid hospitalizations and 82 percent of in-hospital deaths. Yet, only about 40 percent of Americans in that age group were immunized with a Covid vaccine offered last fall.

As Mandavilli observes, even though the hospitalization/death rate is largely for older Americans, kids who become infected are “the ones that, if they’re exposed, are more likely to bring it home to their parents and to their grandparents[.]” The article also notes it is extremely important for pregnant individuals to get immunized.

She also notes that (obviously thanks to Trump, Republican politicians in general, and anti-vaxxers) an increasing number of physicians are hesitant on recommending the vaccination since people continue to refuse it based on ignorance or disinformation, and often punctuate their refusal by “physical and verbal abuse” towards their physicians.

My suggestion? Don’t let the behavior of fools govern your personal health choices.

Follow the science and get the shot.

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