Federal health officials have said they expect the respiratory virus season to remain similar or slightly better this fall as Americans continue to get vaccinated.
They recommended that most Americans get annual COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations, and that immunocompromised and older people get vaccinated against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The forecast comes as the country is likely past the peak of its summer COVID-19 outbreak and heading into the fall and winter holiday seasons, when respiratory viruses are more likely to spread through indoor gatherings with family and friends.
“CDC expects the number of respiratory illness hospitalizations this season to be similar or lower across COVID-19, influenza, and RSV infections,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said at a press conference on Friday.
But she cautioned that “there are a lot of assumptions built into it, including that people will get vaccinated.”
In preparation for the winter outbreak, the US Food and Drug Administration this week approved a series of COVID-19 vaccines that have been adapted to match the strains expected to circulate. The monovalent COVID-19 vaccine, based on Omicron's KP.2 variant, is sold under the brand names Comilnati or Spikevax.
“The good news is that so far the improved vaccines are well-matched to the KP.3 family of viruses, which continues to become increasingly dominant,” Cohen said.
She added that while the US is experiencing waves of infections, hospitals are not seeing waves of hospitalizations or deaths. Cohen later said Americans' “vaccination rates remain lower than I would like.”
Cohen's agency is recommending most Americans get vaccinated in September or October due to expected winter outbreaks. The updated, single-dose vaccine is available to all Americans 12 years of age and older, and children ages 6 months to 11 years are also eligible for the mRNA vaccine, who should receive one to three doses based on their past vaccination history.
“Based on the available evidence, we expect the improved vaccines to provide good protection,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “We strongly encourage anyone who is eligible to receive the improved COVID-19 vaccine to get the improved vaccine,” Dr. Marks said.
Marks also noted that the vaccine could reduce symptoms of long Covid, a poorly understood post-viral syndrome characterised by fatigue, confusion and palpitations, by up to 50%.
“To put things into perspective, mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in the U.S., and for patients six months and older, the benefits of the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks,” Marks said.
For other serious respiratory illnesses, the FDA approved a trivalent, or three-strain, influenza vaccine in March. The vaccine contains two influenza A strains (H1N1 and H3N2) and one influenza B strain. Cohen said the FDA recommends co-administration of the annual influenza vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine. The influenza vaccination is recommended for everyone 6 months of age or older “with rare exceptions.”
For RSV, the CDC recommends vaccination for some infants and Americans over 75. It also recommends vaccination for people over 60 who have weakened immune systems, chronic lung or heart disease, and nursing home residents.
With the goal of reducing the spread of respiratory viruses this year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the CDC and FDA, is also promoting testing, treatment, and education.
Dawn O'Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, said the administration is relaunching a program to distribute four free Covid-19 test kits through Covidtests.gov.
The free oral antiviral treatment called Paxlobidi, which has been shown to reduce the severity of COVID-19, will be available until the end of 2024 to people who have health insurance through Medicare (for the elderly and disabled) or Medicaid (for low-income people and disabled), or who are uninsured.
HHS is also running a national advertising campaign called “Reduce Your Risk, Do More” to encourage people at highest risk of complications from the respiratory virus to get vaccinated. HHS Deputy Secretary for Public Affairs Jeff Nesbitt said the campaign will include “tailored messaging for rural areas, Black and Latino populations, and pregnant patients.”
“There's no denying that we've made great strides in fighting COVID-19 over the past few years, and today we're better prepared and have more tools to protect ourselves,” Cohen said. “Our best bet going into this winter is for everyone to remain vigilant and use the tools we have.”
