(COVID Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)
It’s become more difficult to keep track of COVID-19 cases here in the United States, as less data is being collected and shared with the public.
We do know that this summer’s wave has been substantial, mostly due to the Omicron subvariants known as FLiRT. While death rates have been lower than in previous waves, they have still been ranging in the 400s-700s per week this summer, which is upsetting. These figures may also be lower than the actual count because reporting is less robust than it was under the public health emergency protocols.
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines based on the KP.2 variant, one of the FLiRT family. Doses are already available from some pharmacies and are recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older. While some people will choose to wait until later in the fall to have the strongest protection possible going into the expected winter wave, I will be getting mine in mid-September so that my immunity will be strong when I go to North Adams for the annual Boiler House Poets Collective residency at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts). It looks as though the vaccine will be a good match for the strains that will likely be dominant in the coming months.
The FDA is also expected to approve the Novavax vaccine in the coming weeks. It is a more traditional protein-based vaccine rather than an mRNA one. Some people prefer it because it can cause fewer side effects.
Many people are choosing to ignore any news about COVID and vaccines but it is still a serious problem, here in the US and around the world. This is a reminder that some people are still getting very sick and dying from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Updated vaccines are known to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death, so please get one if they are available to you. (Contact your health care provider for any special recommendations that may apply.)
Other measures can also help reduce your chances of getting COVID. Wearing a high quality mask, especially in crowded, indoor areas, dramatically decreases the rate of infection. Increasing indoor ventilation and air filtration and holding events outdoors are helpful in preventing the spread of COVID and other viruses. If you are sick, stay home and take precautions against spreading your illness to others in your household. Get adequate rest and nutrition to keep your immune system strong.
COVID-19 has not settled into a pattern like we see with flu and is still much more serious in terms of hospitalizations and deaths. It also impacts more systems in the body and can cause symptoms over a longer period of time, such as we see in cases of long COVID. Some people are willing to risk their own health but please remember that you are also putting your family and vulnerable community members at risk if you spread the illness to them.
Wishing everyone good health in the coming months.
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Joanne Corey 
Please wear as good a mask as you can to this upcoming poetry event you mentioned, that’s extremely important, too, and not just in crowded indoor places. It’s not just about being vaccinated, and masks are absolutely variant-proof in terms of protection: they’ll protect against all the possible variants, and any respiratory viruses at all! Bonus.
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Thanks for the reminder. My poetry event is a residency where we will be living together and we will all be testing as part of the COVID protocols. I will, though, be masking when indoors at the museum. With luck, though, the summer wave will be down by then so the risk will be lower than at the moment.
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We have not yet been able to get insurance approval for the newest vaccine. I have a feeling CVS will do the same smirking. lying b.s. they’ve done the last two rounds, and we’ll have to seek it elsewhere. I’m not sure I can get it before the residency, so I’m planning to isolate as much as possible the week prior, test (of course), and mask in the museum.
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Ugh. What is wrong with your CVS? The ones here all have signs on the door, inviting people to get their vaccines. It would seem your mom’s would come under Medicare Part B? She is certainly in a high-risk group.
I’m hoping by the time of the residency the current wave will have subsided but I will probably still mask in the museum, even with vaccine on board. We will all have to test before the start of residency, which I appreciate.
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They have the signs, they demand online signup, the confirmation comes through, then the appointment is cancelled.
My mom’s is totally covered, but CVS “runs out of” the vaccine the day of the appointment, no matter how early it’s scheduled. CVS “doesn’t like” my insurance and refuses me flat out.
Much as I loathe all things Walmart, they were great last vaccine round, although it’s the Moderna, which took us both down for a week (my mom only had Pfizer before with zero side effects and I’ve had both which always lay me out).
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Ugh. Hope you can get it squared away. I know the Novavax hasn’t been approved yet but that would probably be even harder to find. It’s supposed to have fewer side effects but that’s no help if you don’t have access.
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