During his recent budget address, Gov. JB Pritzker pretentiously proclaimed, "We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one," referring to President Trump.
'
Ironic when you consider it was Pritzker who issued at least 41 consecutive disaster proclamations related to COVID-19 between 2020 and 2023, and over 100 specific executive orders tied to the pandemic. These orders included stay-at-home mandates, school and business closures, mask requirements, and vaccination mandates for certain workers.
Pritzker’s unilateral rule in Illinois disqualifies him from making public complaints about kings, fascists, and tyrants in America.
Moreover, his repeated attempts to redefine and paint political opponents as “Nazis” is getting very old.
Pritzker and his allies want the public to believe that “Nazis” are on the right side of the political spectrum. They are being deceitful. The National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi) was organized to advance socialism. They advocated big government policies, putting them on the left side of the political spectrum. Think "Medicare for all," "universal Pre-K," and "universal free college," among others. Sound familiar?
The governor doth protest too much, methinks.
David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute
Got something you want to get off your chest? Send us your letter to the editor today. Here is how: Read this.
BPT - Cold and flu season typically runs from October to May, but with summer colds, COVID outbreaks, RSV and allergies, it's a pretty safe bet that you and your family may be dealing with a variety of symptoms of one kind or another, no matter the season.
Given this year-round battle against illness, the ever-rising costs of medications can put a strain on your wallet and cause confusion as to how best to guard against all of those various bugs out there.
"It's vital for families to get reliable information on how to prevent illnesses, especially during cold and flu season when many bugs are at their worst, and what to do if they do come down with something," said Preeti Parikh, Executive Medical Director at GoodRx, the leading prescription savings platform in the U.S. "This includes information about how to get the best price on any medications they need."
That's where GoodRx comes in. It is an online platform that does double duty. GoodRx can save you up to 80% off retail prices of medications, plus it offers trusted information on the myriad health conditions that families deal with. GoodRx's articles, written by a team of doctors, pharmacists, health economists and public health experts, provide you with authoritative and trustworthy answers to your most pressing health questions so you can make better decisions for your family's health.
When it comes to navigating cold and flu season, Dr. Parikh offers the following tips to prevent illness and manage treatment if you do become sick.
Get vaccinated. Everyone should get their flu shot and COVID booster by the end of October, and these shots can be done at the same time. It’s the most important thing you can do to prevent illness, not only for yourself, but for vulnerable people in your community, such as children, the elderly and people with chronic conditions.
Older Americans should investigate the RSV vaccine. All Americans aged 75 and older should receive one dose of the RSV vaccine. Adults aged 60 to 74 with serious chronic conditions, pregnant women, and young babies may also need to get vaccinated. Work with your healthcare provider to determine if the vaccine is best for you.
Wash your hands. Everyone should practice good disease prevention! Wash your hands, avoid touching your face, and sneeze or cough into your elbow.
Protect others. If you're sick, stay home. Don't go to the office or out shopping or dining. If you must go out, wear a mask to help avoid passing those bugs around.
If you do become sick, GoodRx can help you save on treatments, including antibiotics that can treat your infection, cold medications to help with symptoms, and antivirals, which can shorten the duration or alleviate the symptoms of your illness. On average, GoodRx users save $34 on cold and flu treatment medications.
So, how do the savings work? It's actually very easy. Just go to GoodRx.com or the mobile app and type in the name of the medications you have been prescribed. You'll get a listing of local pharmacies and their prices. Choose the lowest one, and a coupon will pop up. Bring your phone with you to the pharmacy and show the coupon to your pharmacist to get the lowest possible price on your medications.
To arm yourself with information about how to battle the bugs, and ways to save at the pharmacy, visit GoodRx.com/go/fluseason.
Focus on the facts. For certain people, the risk of serious respiratory illness remains high. These include adults ages 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities, pregnant people, people with certain health conditions and those living in rural areas.
Family Features - During the fall and winter months, respiratory infections such as flu, COVID-19 and RSV can surge. People who are vaccinated lower their risk of getting seriously ill and needing medical care if they get infected.
About 70% of adults in the United States said they probably or definitely will get a flu shot, and more than 50% said they probably or definitely will get an updated COVID-19 vaccine. While many people are ready to get this season's vaccines, others might still have questions.
Photos courtesy USDHHS
"It is normal for people to have questions about vaccines," said Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, which oversees and reviews vaccine clinical trials. "It's important for everyone to know that all vaccines go through extensive testing before they are approved and that following approval, they are carefully monitored to identify any safety concerns so that they can be addressed quickly. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have taken part in respiratory vaccine trials. The results tell us that these vaccines are safe and effective in preventing severe disease caused by flu, COVID-19 and RSV."
Here are some ways to talk about the importance of this season's vaccines with a family member or friend who is unsure about getting vaccinated.
Hear them out. When talking about vaccination, it's important to make others feel heard. There are many reasons why people may have questions and concerns about vaccines or even the health care system in general. Listen to their thinking and try not to judge. They want to know their thoughts and feelings matter.
Focus on the facts. Instead of calling out vaccine myths, focus on vaccine truths. Concentrating on myths can cause them to become the topic of your conversation. Instead, speak about the benefits of vaccines. For instance, you can mention vaccines cut your risk of being hospitalized for flu or COVID-19 by about half.
Ask if they need help getting vaccinated. Sometimes, people just need some help to find, schedule and get a vaccination. You can help them find a vaccine location at Vaccines.gov. They may also need help finding child care or figuring out whether they can take time off from work. Offering a ride or accompanying them can also be helpful, especially if the closest vaccination site is far away. If English is not their primary language, offer to help them schedule the appointment and arrange for a medical translator if needed. When it's easier to get vaccinated, people are more likely to take this important step to help protect their health.
Having open, honest and supportive conversations about vaccines with family members and friends can make all the difference. For more information, visit cdc.gov/RiskLessDoMore or talk to your doctor.
Flu, COVID-19 and RSV Vaccines Help People Risk Less Severe Illness and Do More of What They Enjoy
This season's vaccines are now available. Everyone 6 months and older should get an updated flu and COVID-19 vaccine. Everyone ages 75 and older, or 60 and older with certain health conditions such as such as heart disease, lung disease, obesity or diabetes, should get an RSV vaccine if they have not been vaccinated for RSV before.
For certain people, the risk of serious respiratory illness remains high. These include adults ages 65 and older, residents of long-term care facilities, pregnant people, people with certain health conditions and those living in rural areas. People in some racial and ethnic groups, including people who are Black or Hispanic, are also at higher risk. People who are not up to date on flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines can reduce their risk by getting their 2024-25 vaccines as soon as they can.
As many viruses continue to make the rounds in our communities, it is paramount to monitor your symptoms and know when the right time is to seek medical care in person.
PEORIA - OSF HealthCare hospitals, clinics, and emergency departments across the state continue to see a big influx of people seeking care. The increase in patients in waiting rooms can lead to elevated exposure of germs and viruses, plus longer wait times.
As many viruses continue to make the rounds in our communities, it is paramount to monitor your symptoms and know when the right time is to seek medical care in person. Sarah Overton, the Chief Nursing Officer for OSF Medical Group, Home Care and Employee Health, stresses the importance of virtual care when your symptoms are mild.
“That way we’re not exposing you to anyone in the public and you’re not exposing the health care worker to illness,” Overton says. “Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in health care worker illness where our nurses and doctors have to stay home because they are being exposed to illness.”
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels
Hospitals across the state and in the OSF Ministry network have been seeing a spike in COVID-19 patients. If you suspect you have COVID-19 but your symptoms are mild, take an at-home COVID-19 test.
The federal government has another stockpile of at-home tests that are free to order on COVID.gov. Every household can receive four free rapid tests. Dr. Brian Curtis, Vice President of Clinical Specialty Services with OSF HealthCare, says taking tests at home will help free up space at medical facilities.
“Coming in just to get tested takes up spots for the people that are really sick or are high-risk,” Dr. Curtis says.
“The Emergency Room is reserved for those true emergencies,” Overton adds. “We have patients that have heart attacks and lung issues with their COPD. Additional patients overflowing the Emergency Room takes away precious time from assessing those patients who shouldn’t be exposed to those viruses while being in our waiting rooms.”
But COVID-19 isn’t the only virus making the rounds in our communities right now. Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and others are being seen often as well. So how can we stop the spread of viruses?
· Stay home when you aren’t feeling well.
· Wash your hands and use hand sanitizer regularly.
· Cough or sneeze into your elbow.
· Wipe down high-touch surfaces with disinfectant wipes.
· Don’t share glasses or silverware with others.
· Receive the flu shot.
For treating mild symptoms at home, Dr. Curtis offers some guidance for using over-the-counter options.
“You can take Tylenol or Motrin for fevers and aches. Make sure to drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest,” Dr. Curtis says.
Overton says to make sure you read the labels on any over-the-counter medication you buy. If you have any questions, you can ask a retail pharmacist, or send a message through MyChart to your OSF care team.
When is the right time to be seen?
“If you have a super deep cough that’s hanging on for quite a while or have a fever that lasts for several days,” Overton says. “Or if you have high-risk factors and may benefit from some of our medications for COVID, like Paxlovid, which are readily available in our retail pharmacy locations. We also have COVID-19 boosters able to be administered in our primary care offices.”
“There is a medication for influenza, but if you have a mild case, you’ll have more side effects from the medication than you are having from influenza itself. As far as RSV goes, there’s really no treatment for it except for supportive care.”
If you are sick and plan to visit a medical facility, please cover your face with a mask to decrease exposure to the health care workers.
Colds and viruses tend to last one to two weeks. If your symptoms are more serious or linger on much longer than that, reach out to your primary care team and schedule an appointment. You can also consider an in-person or virtual visit to OSF OnCall Urgent Care. A virtual visit is available 24/7.
The virus sometimes causes severe illness even in those without underlying conditions, causing more deaths in children than other vaccine-preventable diseases...
Everyone over the age of 6 months should get the latest covid-19 booster, a federal expert panel recommended Tuesday after hearing an estimate that universal vaccination could prevent 100,000 more hospitalizations each year than if only the elderly were vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted 13-1 for the motion after months of debate about whether to limit its recommendation to high-risk groups. A day earlier, the FDA approved the new booster, stating it was safe and effective at protecting against the covid variants currently circulating in the U.S.
After the last booster was released, in 2022, only 17% of the U.S. population got it — compared with the roughly half of the nation who got the first booster after it became available in fall 2021. Broader uptake was hurt by pandemic weariness and evidence the shots don’t always prevent covid infections. But those who did get the shot were far less likely to get very sick or die, according to data presented at Tuesday’s meeting.
The virus sometimes causes severe illness even in those without underlying conditions, causing more deaths in children than other vaccine-preventable diseases, as chickenpox did before vaccines against those pathogens were universally recommended.
The number of hospitalized patients with covid has ticked up modestly in recent weeks, CDC data shows, and infectious disease experts anticipate a surge in the late fall and winter.
The shots are made by Moderna and by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, which have decided to charge up to $130 a shot. They have launched national marketing campaigns to encourage vaccination. The advisory committee deferred a decision on a third booster, produced by Novavax, because the FDA hasn’t yet approved it. Here’s what to know:
Who should get the covid booster?
The CDC advises that everyone over 6 months old should, for the broader benefit of all. Those at highest risk of serious disease include babies and toddlers, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic health conditions including obesity. The risks are lower — though not zero — for everyone else. The vaccines, we’ve learned, tend to prevent infection in most people for only a few months. But they do a good job of preventing hospitalization and death, and by at least diminishing infections they may slow spread of the disease to the vulnerable, whose immune systems may be too weak to generate a good response to the vaccine.
Pablo Sánchez, a pediatrics professor at The Ohio State University who was the lone dissenter on the CDC panel, said he was worried the boosters hadn’t been tested enough, especially in kids. The vaccine strain in the new boosters was approved only in June, so nearly all the tests were done in mice or monkeys. However, nearly identical vaccines have been given safely to billions of people worldwide.
When should you get it?
The vaccine makers say they’ll begin rolling out the vaccine this week. If you’re in a high-risk group and haven’t been vaccinated or been sick with covid in the past two months, you could get it right away, says John Moore, an immunology expert at Weill Cornell Medical College. If you plan to travel this holiday season, as he does, Moore said, it would make sense to push your shot to late October or early November, to maximize the period in which protection induced by the vaccine is still high.
Who will pay for it?
When the ACIP recommends a vaccine for children, the government is legally obligated to guarantee kids free coverage, and the same holds for commercial insurance coverage of adult vaccines. For the 25 to 30 million uninsured adults, the federal government created the Bridge Access Program. It will pay for rural and community health centers, as well as Walgreens, CVS, and some independent pharmacies, to provide covid shots for free. Manufacturers have agreed to donate some of the doses, CDC officials said.
Will this new booster work against the current variants of covid?
It should. More than 90% of currently circulating strains are closely related to the variant selected for the booster earlier this year, and studies showed the vaccines produced ample antibodies against most of them. The shots also appeared to produce a good immune response against a divergent strain that initially worried people, called BA.2.86. That strain represents fewer than 1% of cases currently. Moore calls it a “nothingburger.”
Why are some doctors not gung-ho about the booster?
Experience with the covid vaccines has shown that their protection against hospitalization and death lasts longer than their protection against illness, which wanes relatively quickly, and this has created widespread skepticism. Most people in the U.S. have been ill with covid and most have been vaccinated at least once, which together are generally enough to prevent grave illness, if not infection — in most people. Many doctors think the focus should be on vaccinating those truly at risk.
With new covid boosters, plus flu and RSV vaccines, how many shots should I expect to get this fall?
People tend to get sick in the late fall because they’re inside more and may be traveling and gathering in large family groups. This fall, for the first time, there’s a vaccine — for older adults — against respiratory syncytial virus. Kathryn Edwards, a 75-year-old Vanderbilt University pediatrician, plans to get all three shots but “probably won’t get them all together,” she said. Covid “can have a punch” and some of the RSV vaccines and the flu shot that’s recommended for people 65 and older also can cause sore arms and, sometimes, fever or other symptoms. A hint emerged from data earlier this year that people who got flu and covid shots together might be at slightly higher risk of stroke. That linkage seems to have faded after further study, but it still might be safer not to get them together.
Pfizer and Moderna are both testing combination vaccines, with the first flu-covid shot to be available as early as next year.
Has this booster version been used elsewhere in the world?
Nope, although Pfizer’s shot has been approved in the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, and Moderna has won approval in Japan and Canada. Rollouts will start in the U.S. and other countries this week.
Unlike in earlier periods of the pandemic, mandates for the booster are unlikely. But “it’s important for people to have access to the vaccine if they want it,” said panel member Beth Bell, a professor of public health at the University of Washington.
“Having said that, it’s clear the risk is not equal, and the messaging needs to clarify that a lot of older people and people with underlying conditions are dying, and they really need to get a booster,” she said.
ACIP member Sarah Long, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, voted for a universal recommendation but said she worried it was not enough. “I think we’ll recommend it and nobody will get it,” she said. “The people who need it most won’t get it.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
SNS - As the lasting effects of COVID-19 become more and more apparent, many business owners are
asking themselves how they might prepare for the next pandemic. For this reason, it is important
that business owners have a plan in place for the future.
This can include a variety of different solutions. Most of them involve optimizing existing practices in addition to developing new
strategies. With a solid strategy in place, you can ensure the company is able to ride out any
disruptions.
Furthermore, businesses can take proactive measures now and remain proactive throughout any further lockdowns. This will allow them to mitigate their losses and decrease the
overall impact of any future pandemic. That is why, In this article, we'll take a look at some helpful guidelines to keep in mind as you prepare for potential pandemics.
1. Review Your Business Operations
Reviewing your business operations is a critical step in preparing for a potential lockdown. Assessing your business model to ensure it's sustainable during a lockdown, identifying which products or services can be offered remotely, and evaluating how your supply chain may be impacted can help you determine which aspects of your business need to be adjusted to maintain operations.
Assessing your business model involves taking a close look at how your business functions and what changes may need to be made in order to continue operating during a lockdown. This is especially important if you are running a small business. For example, if your business relies heavily on foot traffic, you may need to consider new marketing strategies or offering online services to continue generating revenue.
Photo:Microsoft 365/Unsplash
2. Examine Your First Reaction to COVID-19
How did you handle prior lockdowns, and where did you make mistakes?
The first thing you must do is to revise your pandemic preparations if necessary. If you can identify the points at which your company's response is stalled, you can take steps to fortify your business continuity plan. Vaccines, for example, are more readily available today than in 2020. However, since the window of opportunity to receive the vaccine is small, vaccinating your staff now can be a good first step in preparing for the next outbreak.
3. Take Your Businesses Online
As a precaution against the global spread of COVID-19, several nations have instituted mandatory lockdowns, requiring workers in many industries to work remotely. Because of this, now more than ever, we are dependent on technology to do our jobs. That's why there's been a surge in money spent on new technologies. Companies that want to survive have adapted by allowing their workers the flexibility to do some or all of their duties from the comfort of their own homes.
This means that if you wish to prepare for the next pandemic, you have to create a hybrid work model. While this may seem like a bad thing, it is not. It will allow you to downsize and save money on rent. That said, if you decide to downsize and move your office someplace else, you should know about some challenges that can come during this process.
4. Use Technology to Augment, Not Replace, People
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, technology has allowed us to reevaluate how we go about even the
most basic tasks. While the stock market's trading floors were closed, the market itself continued to
function. For instance, the United Kingdom's Parliament now exists online.
Virtual call centers are proliferating all over the globe, and some of them even utilize AI. They use it to keep up with the
volume of calls and the quality of service they provide.
These advances are remarkable, but many of the technologies and tools we are now getting a crash
course in — like Microsoft Teams or Zoom — have the potential to allow us to achieve much more.
Rather than integrating technology with the existing workforce, many companies' first instinct is to
replace employees with machines. Company heads should take advantage of the current time to
consider how their companies may better use technology to enhance human capabilities in order to
boost productivity, enrich the lives of their workers, satisfy their consumers, and stimulate economic
expansion.
5. Devise a Lockdown Exit Strategy
The gross domestic product of several countries has recently plummeted as a result of the
pandemic. For this reason, Governments are seriously considering certain lockdown escape
strategies. These strategies will enable them to reboot economies while minimizing losses.
In a similar vein, companies will need to find out how to resume normal operations while still
prioritizing the safety of their employees and coping with the immediate fallout of the lockdown.
Planning is necessary for employees' eventual return to the office, as well as for any visits to
customers' locations.
Since few businesses would return to the same working and customer service
habits they had before 2020, we can anticipate short-term effects on productivity, prices, and
employee morale. Additionally, in order to switch vendors quickly and easily, businesses may need
to make their supply chains more agile and flexible.
6. Upskill and Cross-Train the Workforce
If you want to prepare for the next pandemic, you must look at cross-training their staff to
guarantee the smooth running of the firm. This will provide them with more adaptability and a
quicker turnaround when redeploying personnel.
That said, a skills audit may help firms gain insight into their staff's collective expertise. This tool can help you identify areas where your employees lack
the necessary skills or where one person's absence could cause a coverage gap. With this information, you will be able to ensure that your business can function no matter what happens.
Conclusion
Now you know that if you want to prepare for the next pandemic, you need to plan carefully and
have effective communication and flexibility. Reviewing your business operations, creating a
contingency plan, investing in technology, and communicating effectively with customers and
employees can help you weather the storm and emerge stronger on the other side.
By taking these steps, you can position your business for success even in the face of unexpected challenges. With the right preparation, your business can not only survive but thrive in the midst of a lockdown.
Government pandemic policies that gave free Covid vaccines and tests to the general public will disappear in two months. The medical and insurance industries are gearing up to capitalize on what looks like a voluptuous revenue stream the virus that will likely never end starting on May 11.
by Julie Appleby Kaiser Health News
We see a double-digit billion[-dollar] market opportunity
The White House announced this month that the national public health emergency, first declared in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, is set to expire May 11. When it ends, so will many of the policies designed to combat the virus's spread.
Take vaccines. Until now, the federal government has been purchasing covid-19 shots. It recently bought 105 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent booster for about $30.48 a dose, and 66 million doses of Moderna's version for $26.36 a dose. (These are among the companies that developed the first covid vaccines sold in the United States.)
People will be able to get these vaccines at low or no cost as long as the government-purchased supplies last. But even before the end date for the public emergency was set, Congress opted not to provide more money to increase the government's dwindling stockpile. As a result, Pfizer and Moderna were already planning their moves into the commercial market. Both have indicated they will raise prices, somewhere in the range of $110 to $130 per dose, though insurers and government health programs could negotiate lower rates.
"We see a double-digit billion[-dollar] market opportunity," investors were told at a JPMorgan conference in San Francisco recently by Ryan Richardson, chief strategy officer for BioNTech. The company expects a gross price — the full price before any discounts — of $110 a dose, which, Richardson said, "is more than justified from a health economics perspective."
That could translate to tens of billions of dollars in revenue for the manufacturers, even if uptake of the vaccines is slow. And consumers would foot the bill, either directly or indirectly.
If half of adults — about the same percentage as those who opt for an annual flu shot — get covid boosters at the new, higher prices, a recent KFF report estimated, insurers, employers, and other payors would shell out $12.4 billion to $14.8 billion. That's up to nearly twice as much as what it would have cost for every adult in the U.S. to get a bivalent booster at the average price paid by the federal government.
As for covid treatments, an August blog post by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response noted that government-purchased supplies of the drug Paxlovid are expected to last through midyear before the private sector takes over. The government's bulk purchase price from manufacturer Pfizer was $530 for a course of treatment, and it isn't yet known what the companies will charge once government supplies run out.
How Much of That Pinch Will Consumers Feel?
One thing is certain: How much, if any, of the boosted costs are passed on to consumers will depend on their health coverage.
Medicare beneficiaries, those enrolled in Medicaid — the state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes — and people with Affordable Care Act coverage will continue to get covid vaccines without cost sharing, even when the public health emergency ends and the government-purchased vaccines run out. Many people with job-based insurance will also likely not face copayments for vaccines, unless they go out of network for their vaccinations. People with limited-benefit or short-term insurance policies might have to pay for all or part of their vaccinations. And people who don't have insurance will need to either pay the full cost out-of-pocket or seek no- or low-cost vaccinations from community clinics or other providers. If they cannot find a free or low-cost option, some uninsured patients may be forced to skip vaccinations or testing.
Coming up with what could be $100 or more for vaccination will be especially hard "if you are uninsured or underinsured; that's where these price hikes could drive additional disparities," said Sean Robbins, executive vice president of external affairs for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Those increases, he said, will also affect people with insurance, as the costs "flow through to premiums."
Meanwhile, public policy experts say many private insurers will continue to cover Paxlovid, although patients may face a copayment, at least until they meet their deductible, just as they do for other medications. Medicaid will continue to cover it without cost to patients until at least 2024. But Medicare coverage will be limited until the treatment goes through the regular FDA process, which takes longer than the emergency use authorization it has been marketed under.
Another complication: The rolls of the uninsured are likely to climb over the next year, as states are poised to reinstate the process of regularly determining Medicaid eligibility, which was halted during the pandemic. Starting in April, states will begin reassessing whether Medicaid enrollees meet income and other qualifying factors.
"This is our No. 1 concern" right now, said John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care, the nation's largest publicly operated health plan with 2.7 million members.
"They may not realize they've lost coverage until they go to fill a prescription" or seek other medical care, including vaccinations, he said.
What About Covid Test Kits?
Rules remain in place for insurers, including Medicare and Affordable Care Act plans, to cover the cost of up to eight in-home test kits a month for each person on the plan, until the public health emergency ends.
For consumers — including those without insurance — a government website is still offering up to four test kits per household, until they run out. The Biden administration shifted funding to purchase additional kits and made them available in late December.
Starting in May, though, beneficiaries in original Medicare and many people with private, job-based insurance will have to start paying out-of-pocket for the rapid antigen test kits. Some Medicare Advantage plans, which are an alternative to original Medicare, might opt to continue covering them without a copayment. Policies will vary, so check with your insurer. And Medicaid enrollees can continue to get the test kits without cost for a little over a year.
State rules also can vary, and continued coverage without cost sharing for covid tests, treatments, and vaccines after the health emergency ends might be available with some health plans.
Overall, the future of covid tests, vaccines, and treatments will reflect the complicated mix of coverage consumers already navigate for most other types of care.
"From a consumer perspective, vaccines will still be free, but for treatments and test kits, a lot of people will face cost sharing," said Jen Kates, a senior vice president at KFF. "We're taking what was universal access and now saying we're going back to how it is in the regular U.S. health system."
KHN correspondent Darius Tahir contributed to this report.
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.
The five components of a healthy workplace include: protection from harm, connection and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work and opportunity for growth.
A new year brings about many possible changes – promises to eat better, exercise more, stop smoking, save money, and so on. Another priority for some is to improve their work situation.
If that’s you, there may be no better time than the present, especially after the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a report that links a toxic workplace culture to health issues such as heart disease, depression and anxiety.
"A toxic workplace is basically any work setting where you're dealing with any sort of psychological stress, where you're feeling nervous, you have some fear, anxiety, sadness, depression – things like that," says Victor Mendoza, a behavioral health provider with OSF HealthCare. "If you start noticing those things in your own workplace, that can be something we would call a toxic environment."
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, the five components of a healthy workplace include: protection from harm, connection and community, work-life harmony, mattering at work and opportunity for growth.
Mendoza says now is the time for organizations to assess their relationship with employees – to create a sense of connection among workers, show them they are important, and support their professional needs.
"First of all, if they haven't added these five components, they should probably try to because I think that's a good foundation to what a healthy work environment should be like," says Mendoza. "You want to have a workplace where you feel comfortable, you feel heard, you feel like there is upward mobility, and that that people care for you. That you're not just a number to them but that you actually are a human, and they understand and are willing to be empathic to your situation. And if there is a concern, they're open to listen to you."
There are many ways feeling stressed or miserable can manifest in an unhealthy work environment such as increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, increasing the chance of high blood pressure, weakening immune systems, causing headaches and increasing anxiety and stress. Mendoza says physical symptoms can include stomach aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and racing heartbeat.
The report comes during an uncertain time in workplace culture due to the COVID pandemic, when employees are seeking more flexible opportunities including working remotely or a hybrid schedule. Mendoza adds that the pandemic also affected our routines, and when routines are changed it can impact our mental health.
"It's been really tough for a lot of people," says Mendoza. "When all this started with the pandemic, a lot of people were having anxiety about what was going to happen. People feared losing their jobs, and a lot of people did lose their jobs, sadly, and that was very hard for them. They had to switch careers. A lot of them were lucky they were able to keep their jobs, but they had to work from home and that that created some stress as well even though we do have good technology."
There are things, however, you can do to cope with your workplace stress. Mendoza suggests keeping track of the stressors in your job, developing healthy responses such as exercise, getting enough sleep and learning how to relax and take time to recharge by unplugging from work, and making sure to use your vacation days.
Mendoza says it’s easy for some people to feel guilty about work-related issues. The most important take home message is to first take care of yourself, and not let a stressful environment affect your health.
"Sometimes you can only do so much and you have to advocate for yourself, and you have be aware when this happens," he adds. "So set up good boundaries with your workplace, make sure that you're taking some time off work for self-care, whatever that looks like for you, and do something you enjoy. Make sure you do some basic things like exercise, you’re eating well and you're sleeping well. That's a really good foundation to deal with a toxic work environment."
EVERGREEN PARK -- It happens every year: flu season, which typically peaks between December and February. This year will mark the third flu season with another virus also circulating: COVID-19. With an updated safe and effective COVID-19 booster shot now available, health experts are urging people to get both the flu and COVID vaccines in order to protect themselves this fall and winter.
Doctors recommend patients get both their flu and Covid booster by the end of this month for maximum protection against the two viruses.
Photo: CDC/Upslash
Since 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended annual flu vaccines for everyone six months and older, with few exceptions. New this year is an added recommendation for a higher dose for those 65 and older. The CDC has also recommended the use of updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for people ages 18 years and older.
If you have not yet received your COVID-19 booster shot, or if you still have yet to receive an initial dose, it’s not too late.
"I urge everybody who is eligible to get a COVID booster to do so, and the reasons why are multifactorial. Number one is because your immunity wanes and you need to protect yourself. Number two is that the virus has changed slightly and the newest booster is most effective at protecting against those changes, " says Dr. Bill Walsh, an OSF HealthCare chief medical officer.
Dr. Walsh adds that it is important to get the seasonal flu shot as well as a COVID shot because they protect against different viruses.
"Please understand that the recommendation is for both the flu shot and the COVID shot. There is no cross reactivity even though the symptoms might be similar between COVID-19 and influenza. The influenza shot will not help against COVID, and the COVID vaccination will not protect you against influenza, " Dr. Walsh explains.
The timing of when to get your flu shot and COVID booster can be confusing. The CDC says if you haven’t yet gotten your initial recommended dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, to get one as soon as you can. Health experts typically recommend getting your seasonal flu vaccine by the end of October for best protection during the peak of flu season, and say it is safe to get both vaccines during the same visit.
"There are many times when you get more than one vaccine. Most of the time when you get a tetanus shot, it also includes pertussis. Many of the vaccinations pediatricians give to children have more than one vaccine in each shot. So, it is standard and normal for more than one vaccine to occur at a time, " Dr. Walsh says.
Dr. Walsh adds getting both shots done at once alleviates having to make multiple trips to your doctor’s office or local pharmacy. But this route may not be for everyone.
As with all vaccinations, there are mild side effects that both vaccines can cause, such as joint or muscle pain, fatigue, and chills. If you have experienced side effects from vaccines in the past and it took a couple days for them to subside, you may opt to get the vaccines at separate times.
"You know yourself best. If you are certain that you will get them both despite not getting them at one appointment, then that is completely fine, too. You may want to space them out because sometimes you have side effects. There have been a lot of questions about whether to get them both in one arm or in different arms so you have different injection sites. That really boils down to personal preference, " advises Dr. Walsh.
The important thing is making sure you do get both of these vaccinations to protect both yourself and your loved ones. Because the holiday season is approaching, you may have holiday gatherings on your calendar over the next few months. If you get your flu shot in October but choose to wait to get your COVID-19 booster at a later date, Dr. Walsh recommends getting it at least two weeks before any large gatherings in order to ensure the best protection against the virus.
To schedule your seasonal flu vaccine and COVID-19 booster, make an appointment with your primary care provider or local pharmacy. Talk to your primary care provider if you have any questions about either vaccine.
Ottawa -- One of the most common symptoms found in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic was the loss of smell and taste.
While many people rebound quickly from the loss of smell (most recover within 30 days), others have not. In fact, according to a recent study in the BMJ, (the medical journal of the British Medical Association), about 27 million people in the world are experiencing long-term effects of loss of smell or taste.
"There is a subset about 5%, where we're seeing the loss of smell and taste remaining longer than six months," says Angela Vezzetti, PA, a physician's assistant at OSF HealthCare, specializing in otolarynogology (the study of the ear, nose and throat). "Some studies have looked at different gene mutations in patients where they're seeing certain mutations impact the sense of smell and the recovery rates. There are a lot of studies going on right now to determine why these patients are not recovering their sense of smell and taste. One other study did note that there was a loss of tissue in the olfactory bulb of the brain that could potentially be causing this prolonged sense of loss of smell."
The study also revealed that women were less likely to regain their sense of smell and taste than men, which Vezzetti attributes to women having a higher perception of smell than men. People who suffer from nasal congestion were also slower to recover from the loss of smell and taste.
The loss of smell has also been shown to have a significant impact when it comes to emotional and psychological well-being, especially among older people. Loss of smell can cause many emotions. It can make people feel disoriented, detached, anxious or worse.
"I don't think a lot of people really realized the impact of loss of smell and taste, the sense of smell in general, people kind of took for granted to an extent and a lot more people have seen the really importance of smell when it comes to just taste in general," says Vezzetti. "Without the sense of smell and taste you can have aversions to certain foods, which for elderly people can lead to either a lack of desire to eat, or nutritional deficiencies, even malnutrition, because they're not getting those vitamins that they need because the food either tastes bad, or they just can't taste it at all."
As time goes on, the medical community has developed a better understanding of how COVID-19 impacts the sense of smell and taste. That includes treatment options which have provided relief for some patients.
"The number one protocol that we recommend is something called olfactory or smell retraining, which we recommend patients take some essential oils which are a nice concentrated scent," says Vezzetti. "There are four of them that we recommend. They are a lemon, clove, eucalyptus and Rose and they smell those scents for maybe 15 seconds a day, once or twice a day and we've have seen some patients regain some of that loss of smell or diminished smell, retraining their sense of smell with these essential oils."
This is just another reminder about the importance of getting the COVID vaccine. Medical experts believe that the vaccine may protect people from losing their sense of smell even if they get infected.
"I think people can be reassured to know that the good majority of patients with loss of smell or taste from COVID do recover either completely or partially," says Vezzetti. "And there are some things that can be done in the meantime while they're experiencing their symptoms to try to help such as smell retraining, maybe trying intranasal steroid spray to try to relieve some of that inflammation and hopefully bring back those senses. But I think that the fact that the good majority of patients have improved and are improving is a really good thing."
Did you have COVID and lost your sense of taste and/or smell? Tell us about your experience and we'll share it with our readers. Email us your story to editor@oursentinel.com.
Study finds the risk of myocarditis was substantially higher in the four weeks after COVID-19 infection than after a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
DALLAS -- In a detailed analysis of nearly 43 million people, the risk of myocarditis in unvaccinated individuals after COVID-19 infection was at least 11 times higher compared to people who developed myocarditis after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine or booster dose, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation. This analysis included data from England’s National Immunization database for people ages 13 and older who received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between December 1, 2020 and December 15, 2021 in England.
Several previous studies and reports from public health agencies around the world including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have highlighted a possible connection and potentially increased risk of myocarditis after receiving an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, generating considerable scientific, policy and public interest.
Typically thought to be trigged by a viral infection, myocarditis is the inflammation of the heart muscle, the myocardium. This condition is uncommon and may temporarily or permanently weaken the heart muscle and the heart’s electrical system, which keeps the heart beating normally. An episode of myocarditis may resolve on its own or with treatment, and may result in lasting damage to the heart. In the general population not during a global pandemic, it is estimated that approximately 10 to 20 people per 100,000 are diagnosed with myocarditis each year, according to the American Heart Association’s 2021 scientific statement on myocarditis.
“We found that across this large dataset, the entire COVID-19-vaccinated population of England during an important 12-month period of the pandemic when the COVID-19 vaccines first became available, the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination was quite small compared to the risk of myocarditis after COVID-19 infection,” says first author of the study Martina Patone, Ph.D., a statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. “This analysis provides important information that may help guide public health vaccine campaigns, particularly since COVID-19 vaccination has expanded in many parts of the world to include children as young as 6 months old.”
In this study, Patone and colleagues evaluated England’s National Immunization database of COVID-19 vaccinations for all people ages 13 or older who had received at least one dose of the ChAdOx1 (a two-dose adenovirus-vector COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, most similar to the one-dose Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine available in the U.S.), the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (the same mRNA vaccines available in the U.S.) between December 1, 2020 and December 15, 2021. This dataset totaled nearly 43 million people, which included more than 21 million who had received a booster dose of any of the COVID-19 vaccines (meaning they had received a total of 3 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine). The database detailed the type of COVID-19 vaccines received, dates received and dose sequencing, along with individual demographic information including age and sex for each individual. Nearly 6 million people tested positive for COVID-19 infection either before or after COVID-19 vaccination during the study period.
England’s National Immunization database records were then cross-referenced and matched to the national offices with data on COVID-19 infection, hospital admission and death certificates for the same time period, December 1, 2020 through December 15, 2021. Individuals were classified based on age and sex to reveal which groups had the highest risk of myocarditis after a COVID-19 vaccine or after COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. The authors used the self-controlled case series (SCCS) method, which was developed to estimate the relative incidence of an acute event in a pre-defined post-vaccination risk period (1-28 days), compared to other times (pre-vaccination or long after vaccination). Being a within-person comparison, the analyses were controlled to adjust for any fixed characteristics, including sex, race or ethnicity, or chronic health conditions.
In the overall dataset of nearly 43 million people, the analyses found:
Fewer than 3,000 (n=2,861), or 0.007%, people were hospitalized or died with myocarditis during the one-year study period. 617 of these cases of myocarditis occurred during days 1-28 after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination, of which 514 were hospitalized.
People who were infected with COVID-19 before receiving any doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were 11 times more at risk for developing myocarditis during days 1-28 after a COVID-19 positive test.
The risk of COVID-19 infection-related myocarditis risk was cut in half among people infected after vaccination (received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine).
The risk of myocarditis increased after a first dose of the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine (an adenovirus-vector vaccine most similar to the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine available in the U.S.) and after a first, second and booster dose of any of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. However, the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis was lower compared to the risk of COVID-19 infection-associated myocarditis, except for after a second dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Myocarditis risk was found to be higher during days 1-28 after a second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for people of all genders and ages, and the risk also persisted after a booster dose of the Moderna vaccine. However, people receiving a booster dose of Moderna were, on average, younger in comparison to those who received a booster dose of the ChAdOx1 or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, therefore, results may not be generalizable to all adults.
Risk of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis among women:
Of the nearly 21 million women, 7.2 million (34%) were younger than age 40, and a slightly increased risk of myocarditis was found among this younger age group after receiving a second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine: 7 estimated extra cases of myocarditis for every one million women vaccinated.
Among women older than age 40, a slight increased risk of myocarditis was associated with receiving a first or third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, respectively 3 and 2 estimated additional cases of myocarditis for every one million women vaccinated.
Risk of COVID-19 infection-associated myocarditis among women:
Among women younger than age 40, the risk of infection-associated myocarditis was higher compared to the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis: 8 extra cases associated with having COVID-19 infection before vaccination.
Among women older than age 40, the risk of infection-associated myocarditis was higher compared to the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis: 51 extra cases associated with having COVID-19 infection before vaccination.
Risk of COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis among men:
Among the 18 million men in the dataset, all of whom received at least one COVID-19 vaccine, more than 6 million men (34%) were younger than age 40.
An increased risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis was found in men ages 40 and younger after a first dose of either of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (4 and 14 estimated extra cases for every one million men vaccinated with respectively Pfizer or Moderna vaccine), or a second dose of any of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in England during the study period: 14, 11 and 97 estimated additional cases of myocarditis for every one million men vaccinated, respectively for the ChAdOx1, the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccine.
The increased risk of developing myocarditis among males younger than age 40 was also higher after receiving two doses of the Moderna vaccine when compared to the risk of myocarditis after COVID-19 infection. The researchers noted, however, the average age of people who received the Moderna vaccine was 32 years, compared to the majority of those who received the other vaccines were older than age 40.
In men ages 40 and older, a slightly increased risk of myocarditis was found after a booster dose of either of the two mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna): 3 estimated extra cases of myocarditis for every one million men vaccinated with either mRNA vaccine.
Risk of COVID-19 infection-associated myocarditis among men:
Among men younger than age 40, the risk of infection-associated myocarditis was higher compared to the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis: 16 extra cases associated with having infection before vaccination, with the only exception of a second dose of Moderna vaccine.
Among men older than age 40, the risk of infection-associated myocarditis was higher compared to the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis: 85 extra cases associated with having infection before vaccination.
“It is important for the public to understand that myocarditis is rare, and the risk of developing myocarditis after a COVID-19 vaccine is also rare. This risk should be balanced against the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines in preventing severe COVID-19 infection. It is also crucial to understand who is at a higher risk for myocarditis and which vaccine type is associated with increased myocarditis risk, ” said Professor Nicholas Mills, Ph.D., the Butler British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh and a co-author of the paper.
“These findings are valuable to help inform recommendations on the type of COVID-19 vaccines available for younger people and may also help shape public health policy and strategy for COVID-19 vaccine boosters. The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to shift, and more contagious variants arise; our hope is that this data may enable a more well-informed discussion on the risk of vaccine-associated myocarditis when considered in contrast to the net benefits of COVID-19 vaccination,” said another co-author Julia Hippisley-Cox, F.R.C.P., professor of clinical epidemiology and general practice at the University of Oxford.
Authors noted there are two unanswered questions that likely require further investigation. The first is about myocarditis risk among children ages 13-17 because there were too few cases of myocarditis to quantify the risk specific to this age group. Secondly, researchers were not able to directly compare the death rate after COVID-19 infection vs. death after COVID-19 vaccination since the database only included people who had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. More expansive data and a different analysis are still needed to address these questions and numerous other COVID-19 topics.
The study has two notable limitations. The number of cases of myocarditis among individuals who received a booster dose of the ChAdOx1 or Moderna vaccines was too small to calculate the risk of myocarditis. Additionally, researchers cannot exclude the possibility of over- or under-estimated risk due to misclassification of any health information in the database, though the U.K.’s National Health Service is known to provide timely and accurate data.
CHAMPAIGN -- Champaign County residents 65 and older can now receive a second Covid-19 booster. Citizens 50 and older with an underlying medical condition are also eligible to receive a second booster.
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended on Tuesday, March 29, that "expanded eligibility for an additional booster dose for certain individuals who may be at higher risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. Boosters are safe, and people over the age of 50 can now get an additional booster four months after their prior dose to increase their protection further."
Eligible members of the community may sign-up online at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B054CA8A82CA5F94-2ndcovid to receive the vaccination at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District office located at 201 W. Kenyon Road in Champaign.
Vaccination appointments are being booked now for April 4 – 22 from 8:30 am – 4:00 pm.
Boosters will also be available from Promise Healthcare, Carle Health, OSF Healthcare, and Christie Clinic. Patients are urged to contact their primary care provider for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Meanwhile, those under the age of 50 and interested in receiving a second booster will have to wait for government approval for the time being. In a release issued today by the CUPHD, the "CDC, in collaboration with FDA and our public health partners, will continue to evaluate the need for additional booster doses for all Americans."
Christie Clinic will offer the booster at most of their primary care offices. According to today's press release, appointments will be limited to Christie patients 50 years old and older. "If patients have an upcoming appointment, they are encouraged to discuss their eligibility with their primary care provider."
Appointments for the second Covid-19 booster at Promise Healthcare can be made by calling (217) 356-1558.
For more information visit vaccine.gov to find a vaccine site nearest to you or log into www.vaccinefinder.org for available appointments at local pharmacies.
A shopper checks the quality of a pineapple at the supermarket. Most people have become increasingly more comfortable shopping and attending live events around the country thanks largely to the CDC's guidelines. Yet, a poll in February suggests that 49% of the population still has concerns about the relaxed public health guidance.
Photo: Anna Shvets/Pexels
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month unveiled updated covid-19 guidelines that relaxed masking recommendations, some people no doubt sighed in relief and thought it was about time.
People have become increasingly comfortable being out shopping, attending live events, or meeting up with friends at restaurants. And many are ready to cast aside their masks.
Still, a recent KFF poll pointed to an underlying tension. Just as a large swath of the American public, 62%, said that the worst of the pandemic was behind us, nearly half were worried about easing covid-related restrictions — like indoor masking — too soon. The poll, conducted in February, found that 49% of adults were either "very worried" or "somewhat worried" that lifting pandemic restrictions would cause more virus-related deaths in their communities. About 50% were "not too worried" or "not at all worried" that death tolls would rise in their communities.
The CDC’s move triggered some of the same mixed feelings from the public that the poll uncovered and laid bare a split within the health care community.
On the one hand, there’s applause.
The CDC’s protocol change is an indicator that the nation is approaching a "transition from the pandemic phase to an endemic phase," said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. Rather than pushing messages of prevention, Benjamin said, the agency is changing its focus to monitoring for spikes of infection.
On the other hand, there is criticism — and worry, too.
"When I hear about relaxing regulations," said Dr. Benjamin Neuman, a Texas A&M University professor and chief virologist at its Global Health Research Complex, "it sounds a lot like people giving up. And we’re not there yet, and it’s a little bit heartbreaking and a little bit hair-pulling."
What Are the New Guidelines, and How Are They Different?
Before the update, the CDC considered a community at substantial or high risk if it had had an infection rate of 50 or more new cases for every 100,000 residents in the previous week.
According to the agency’s new community-based guidance, risk levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking — over a seven-day period — at three factors: the number of new covid cases in an area, the share of hospital beds being used, and hospital admissions.
This change had a profound impact on how covid risk was measured across the country. For example, the day before the CDC announced the new guidelines, 95% of the nation’s counties were considered areas of substantial or high risk. Now, just 14% of counties fall into the high-risk category, according to the agency.
The CDC doesn’t make specific mask recommendations for areas at low risk. For areas classified as medium risk, people who have other health problems or are immunocompromised are urged to speak to their health care provider about whether they should mask up and take other precautions. In areas deemed to be high risk, residents are urged to wear masks in indoor public spaces.
"This more stratified approach with this combination of those factors gives us a better level of understanding of covid-19’s impact on our communities," said Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "Specifically, the impact of severe disease and death."
But people shouldn’t get rid of their masks yet, she said. Even as the nation’s infection rates fall, the virus continues to spread on a global scale. "We have to fully recognize that there are so many people on this Earth who are unvaccinated internationally, and this is where the variants come from," Althoff said.
Roses and Thorns From Experts
The same week the CDC rolled out its new guidelines, it reported a national seven-day average of about 71,000 new covid cases, along with 5,400 hospital admissions. Around 2,000 people were dying because of the disease every day.
It’s numbers like these that led some public health experts to question the CDC’s timing.
"I think we have prematurely opened and prematurely unmasked so many times at this point, followed by remasking and reclosing and just seeing our hospitals absolutely swamped, that I don’t really trust this," said Texas A&M’s Neuman.
There have been "too many times," he said, when the CDC has put down its guard and the virus came back stronger. "We’re basically taking our foot off the accelerator in terms of what we’re doing to slow down the virus, and that just means that there will be more virus going around and it’s going to keep swirling around," he said.
The CDC’s goal for easing mask mandates, Neuman speculated, was to create regulations that are more appealing and easier for people to abide by, because "it’s hard to sell prudence as something really attractive." Plus, public health officials need to have a program that the entire country can follow, he said. The battle against the virus can’t be won with policies "that people follow in blue states but not in red states," he added, "because the virus is very much a collective risk."
There also are questions about how effective the new approach is at signaling when risk is increasing.
Joshua Salomon, a professor of health policy at Stanford University’s medical school, said that although the CDC designed its new guidance to incorporate a stronger indicator of surges, it has "a very late trigger."
Salomon, along with Alyssa Bilinski, an assistant professor of health policy at Brown University, looked into the delta and omicron surges and found that a rough rule of thumb during that period was that 21 days after most states rose to the high-risk level, the death rate hit three people for every million. That equals about 1,000 deaths a day at a national level.
The updated CDC guidance "is intended to provide a sort of warning that states are entering a period in which severe outcomes are expected," he said. But the new approach would not sound that alarm until death rates were already reaching that "quite high" mark.
Others, though, point to another set of numbers. They say that with 65% of Americans fully vaccinated and 44% boosted as of March 8, relaxing covid protocols is the right decision.
The new strategy is forward-looking and continues to measure and track the virus’s spread, said the APHA’s Benjamin. "It allows a way to scale up and scale back the response."
Since the guidelines are based on seven-day averages, he added, they are a good way to monitor communities’ risk levels and gauge which set of mandates is appropriate. "So if a community goes from green to yellow to red," he said, referring to the CDC’s color-coded map that tracks counties’ covid levels, "that community will then need to modify its practices based on the prevalence of disease there."
The guidelines, Benjamin said, are "scientifically sound, they’re practical." Over time, he added, more communities will move into the low and moderate categories. "The truth of the matter is that you just cannot keep people in the emergency state forever," he continued. "And this is never going to get to zero risk. … [Covid’s] going to be around, and so we’re going to have to learn to live with it."
What About Those Who Are Not Eligible for a Vaccine or Are Immunocompromised?
The CDC’s relaxed recommendations do not prevent anyone from wearing a mask. But for millions of Americans who are immunocompromised or too young to receive a vaccine, less masking means a loss of a line of defense for their health in public spaces.
Children younger than 5 are not eligible to receive a vaccine yet, and people who are immunocompromised and are susceptible to more severe cases of the disease include cancer patients undergoing active treatment and organ transplant recipients. People living with chronic illnesses or disabilities are also vulnerable.
"You only have control of so much," Neuman said. "And if you’re exposed to enough of the virus and you’re doing all the right things, you can still sometimes end up with a bad result."
Masks are most effective when everyone in a room is wearing one, Neuman added, but the new mandate is similar "to victim-blaming — basically saying, ‘You have a problem and so here’s the extra burden to go with your problem.’"
KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.
Dallas, TX -- Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved the use of a second COVID-19 booster shot for adults over age 50 and certain immunocompromised individuals, including heart transplant patients. While not issuing a direct recommendation, the agencies instead issued emergency authorization for a fourth shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines to provide additional protection against the coronavirus and its variants for certain people. The American Heart Association continues to align with guidance from the CDC, the nation’s pandemic control experts, and supports the use of this fourth shot, as indicated.
According to the CDC, the additional booster should be given at least four months after the initial booster. There is still little research on the use of a fourth dose of the vaccine, however, emerging evidence finds the effectiveness against COVID-19 and its variants may start to diminish three to six months after receipt of an initial booster dose.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives for all, remains concerned about the continuing gaps in COVID-19 vaccination among people from all eligible age groups in the U.S., including people from diverse racial and ethnic groups and pregnant people.
"Individuals eligible for COVID vaccination who are not yet fully immunized are urged get the series of vaccines at least up through the first booster. People who are eligible for the second booster should call their clinical care office to discuss the need for a second booster," said American Heart Association volunteer President Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, M.D., Sc.M., FAHA, chair of the department of preventive medicine, the Eileen M. Foell Professor of Heart Research and professor of preventive medicine, medicine and pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "It is also important to ensure you are up to date on controlling other health issues including any cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, that can put you at increased risk for heart disease, stroke and COVID-19."
For more information on COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease, visit www.heart.org/covid19.
PONTIAC - People everywhere are conquering their cabin fever and are enjoying the great outdoors after a long, bitter winter. But before you head out for that hike, health care experts remind you to take precautions to avoid tick bites. Read more . . .
CHICAGO - An Illinois law professor is weighing in on what she called a "very public and open test of due process" for immigrants being deported from the United States without court hearings. Read more . . .
CHAMPAIGN - In a show of solidarity against President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, which critics say are harming families and retirement savings, more than a thousand protesters gathered Saturday at West Park near downtown Champaign for the Hands-Off! Mobilization rally. Read more . . .
Photo Galleries
A couple of runners found themselves in the wrong race at this year's Illinois Marathon. Over 60 photos from the race that you should see.
Paul Arco
