COVID-19 surges nationwide — and the highest rates are in California
COVVI-19 rates in the southwest of the United States reached 12.5%-the highest in the country-according to new data from US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published this week. Meanwhile, the County of Los Angeles has recorded the most hailed levels of its wastewater since February.
The peak, thanks to the new very contagious “stratus” variant, comes as students in California return to class, now without recommendation from the CDC that they receive updated covored photos. This change of policy, pushed by the Secretary of Health and Social Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was criticized by many experts in public health.
The COVVI-19 virus, SARS-COV-2, often matt, learning to better transmit itself from one person to another and to escape immunity created by previous vaccinations and infections.
The Stratus variant, detected for the first time in Asia in January, reached the United States in March and became the predominant strain at the end of June. It now represents two thirds of the variants of viruses detected in wastewater in the United States, According to the CDC.
The positivity rate coche at the national level reached 9% at the beginning of August, exceeding overvoltage after the January holidays, but still less than 18% last August at 18%. The weekly deaths, a metric that is lagging behind compared to positivity rates, has been low until now.
In May, RFK Jr. The CDC had withdrawn the vaccine covid from its recommended vaccination calendar for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.
The secretary argued that it was the right decision to reverse the policy of the Biden administration, which, in 2024, “urged healthy children to obtain another shot, despite the absence of clinical data to support the repeated recall strategy in children.”
This declaration quickly stimulated a trial Of a group of leading medical organizations – including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the American Public Health Assn. – who argued that the “baseless and uninformed” decision violated the federal law by failing to base the policy on the recommendation of the scientific committee which examines vaccination practices in the United States
The advisory committee for immunization practices has been recommend regularly Update of coastal vaccinations as well as the typical annual vaccination calendar. In his Update of the fall season 2024-SPRING 2025He noted that the previous year, a Covid Booster decreased the risk of hospitalization by 44% and death by 23%.
The panel argued that the advantages won over isolated cases of heart conditions and allergic reactions associated with the vaccine.
The panel has also recognized that the efficiency of Booster decreases as new core strains – for which boosters have not been designed – emerging. Nevertheless, he still thought that most Americans should get a reminder.
THE CDC estimates that only about 23% of adults and 13% of children received the Booster Covid 2024-25 – even with the recommendation of the vaccine still in place. It is compared to about half of adults and children who received the influenza vaccine updated at the same time.
