[Hac-announce] CDC changes from "option" to "urge" on 2nd booster for those over 50

[Manny Sholem Ratafia]

FYI from yesterday's New York Times.--Manny

“...a steep and substantial increase in hospitalizations for older 
Americans.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/us/politics/cdc-second-booster.html

*Coronavirus Pandemic 
<https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/20/world/covid-19-deaths-vaccines-cases?action=click&pgtype=Article&module=&state=default&region=header&context=breakout_link_back_to_briefing>* 



  C.D.C. Urges Adults 50 and Older to Get Second Booster Shot

<https://www.nytimes.com/by/sharon-lafraniere>

May 20, 2022, 4:59 p.m. ET

May 20, 2022

Sharon LaFraniere <https://www.nytimes.com/by/sharon-lafraniere>

Getting a second Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot at the Santa Clara County 
Fairgrounds in California on Thursday.Credit...Jim Wilson/The New York 
Times

WASHINGTON — In a sign of growing concern among federal health officials 
about the spread of new coronavirus infections, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention is now saying that all people 50 or older should 
get a second booster shot if at least four months have passed since 
their first booster dose.

Previously, the agency said those 50 and older had the option of the 
additional shot 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/29/us/politics/second-coronavirus-booster-shot.html>, 
but only encouraged people over 65 or with underlying medical conditions 
to get it 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/05/us/politics/cdc-second-boosters.html>. 
The new guidance, issued in a statement on the C.D.C.’s website on 
Thursday 
<https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0519-covid-booster-acip.html>, 
also extends to anyone 12 and older with certain immune deficiencies 
<https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0519-covid-booster-acip.html>.

The C.D.C. said it was changing its advice because of a steady rise in 
infections over the past month, coupled with “a steep and substantial 
increase in hospitalizations for older Americans.” New confirmed cases 
surpassed an average of 100,000 a day again this week, according to a 
New York Times database 
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html> — a 
number considered an undercount 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/health/covid-cases-tracking.html>. 
And nationally, hospitalizations of people with Covid-19 were averaging 
more than 23,800 a day as of Thursday, 31 percent more than two weeks ago.

Most Americans 50 or older received their last dose of Covid vaccine 
more than six months ago. That has left “many who are vulnerable without 
the protection they may need to prevent severe disease, hospitalization 
and death,” the C.D.C. said.

In another warning of growing Covid risks, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the 
agency’s director, said Friday 
<https://twitter.com/CDCDirector/status/1527715083446636546> that more 
that 45 percent of Americans now live in areas where transmission rates 
are high enough that they should at least consider wearing a mask in 
indoor public settings 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/us/politics/white-house-covid-briefing.html>.

That was a substantial jump from the data she cited just two days 
earlier at a White House briefing 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/us/politics/white-house-covid-briefing.html>. 
She said then that about one-third of Americans lived in counties with 
medium to high levels of virus transmission. That itself was a big 
increase; only about one-fourth of the population fell into risk zones 
the previous week, she said.

In a message posted Friday on Twitter, Dr. Walensky said those in 
high-risk areas — largely in the Northeast — should wear masks indoors 
in public. Those in medium-risk areas, which include counties in nearly 
every state, should consider masks based on their assessment of their 
personal risks, she said.

Hospital admissions of patients with Covid are a major factor in the 
C.D.C.’s assessments of a community’s risk. But other experts cautioned 
that hospitalization data could be misleading because patients might 
have been admitted for unrelated illnesses, and merely tested positive 
during routine Covid checks.

“We have 11 people in our hospital right now with Covid,” said Dr. 
Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease doctor at San Francisco General 
Hospital. “Three of them were hospitalized for Covid and the other eight 
have Covid in their noses and are there for other reasons.”

She said that in Massachusetts, a state with a high rate of vaccination, 
officials estimate that as many as 70 percent of hospital patients who 
test positive for the virus were admitted primarily for unrelated 
illnesses. However, coronavirus infections can also exacerbate 
underlying medical conditions 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/health/omicron-chronic-illness.html?>, 
which many Americans have.

The death rate from Covid, although a lagging indicator, may be a more 
reliable gauge of the degree of the disease’s impact, because physicians 
must note the cause of death on the death certificate, according to Dr. 
Gandhi and other experts.

Recently, deaths have remained low. About 275 deaths have been recorded 
each day on a seven-day average, Dr. Walensky said on Thursday. The 
number of new deaths has actually dipped slightly in recent weeks. 
According to the Times database, the overall toll of U.S. deaths 
surpassed one million on Thursday 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/us/us-covid-deaths.html>, the 
highest confirmed total of any nation 
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/13/us/covid-deaths-us-one-million.html>.

Those age 50 or older have been eligible for a second booster since late 
March, but federal health officials have said too few people are taking 
advantage of it. Only one-fourth of those 65 and older who have gotten 
one booster dose, for instance, have gotten a second, the C.D.C.’s data 
show 
<https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-onedose-pop-5yr>.

Dr. Walensky also said this week that the C.D.C. and the Food and Drug 
Administration were now discussing whether to broaden eligibility to 
those younger than 50.

This week, the agencies cleared a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech 
vaccine 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/fda-pfizer-booster-children.html> 
for 5- to 11-year-olds, expanding eligibility for a first booster dose 
to a younger age group. Among other factors cited in its decision memo 
<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/us/politics/fda-pfizer-booster-children.html>, 
the F.D.A. cited “the continued relaxation” of preventive measures, 
including mask mandates, social distancing and isolation of infected 
individuals.

The agency also noted the risk of long Covid, which it said “can cause 
significant morbidity after initially mild infection.”

-- 
"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it
in a way that will lead others to join you."
― Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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