United States: Due to a continuous rise in COVID-19 infection cases, comprising of multitude expanse of novel variants, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended administering the new and updated vaccines before the beginning of the fall and winter virus season.
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According to CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen, as stated on Thursday, “Make a plan now for you and your family to get both updated flu and COVID vaccines this fall, ahead of the respiratory virus season,” as USA Today reported.
Currently, the CDC is closely monitoring the further development of a multitude of variants of COVID-19, including the KP.3 frontrunner and the emerging LB.1, which is the newest variant in circulation in the United States.
The present situatiom depict that there is 1.4 percent rise in test positivity as of June 22 as reported by the agency.
Here are the COVID-19 stats for the U. S. and CDC’s updated vaccine recommendations.
About the updated vaccine
For disease prevention, the CDC advises all persons above the age of six months to be newly vaccinated by the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of a past shot they might have taken.
It also advises the currently recommended 2024-205 flu vaccines.
Flu vaccines protect against the flu, and most people only require one dose each season- and September and October are considered the ideal time for the majority of people to be immunized.
The CDC affirms that people can safely get the two vaccines for COVID-19 and the flu in one go, as USA Today reported.
Current COVID variants
As for now, from June 9 to June 22, cases have been tracked by the CDC’s Nowcast data tracker, which highlighted the presence and expansion of COVID-19 variants. It included the KP.3 variant, comprising 33.3 percent of total positivity of infections, the KP.2 variant with 20.8 percent positivity, and the newcomer LB.1 variant at 17.5 percent positivity of infections.
Overall, as per the data showed, the JN.1 variant has accounted for just 1.6 percent of the positivity of infections.
According to CDC Spokesperson Dave Daigle, “There is currently no evidence that LB.1 causes more severe disease,” as USA Today reported.
Symptoms presented by COVID-19
The experts put down a list of wide-ranging infections, which start appearing almost 2-14 days after the onset of virus in-growth inside the human being. These include:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
- Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- Net loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea