Pfizer also appears to be producing updated 2025/2026 COVID19 vaccine and taking reservations for healthcare providers to order them.
www.comirnatyhcp.com/reservations/— Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD (@elizabethjacobs.bsky.social) July 14, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Tell the truth, I’m finding it more dispiriting to post about current healthcare trends in America than I did when dredging the internet at the worst of the actual pandemic… when at least most officials understood the stakes.
Nevertheless, here’s the latest per the Washington Post — “Here’s what you need to know about covid this summer”: [gift link]
… Currently, “COVID-19 wastewater activity, emergency department visits and laboratory percent positivity are at very low levels,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Covid isn’t gone, but “it’s just not as horrible as it used to be, and everybody has some immunity to it. You either have been vaccinated and boosted, or you’ve had it, or both. And so it is a lot less likely to kill you than five years ago,” said Donald Milton, professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and an expert in the spread of the coronavirus and other respiratory viruses. However, tens of thousands of Americans are still dying from covid each year, he said…
There are many coronavirus variants, but the two that have been named, because they are “at risk of dominating the landscape,” are NB. 1.8.1 and XFG, both of which are competing for global dominance, said Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California at San Francisco. The World Health Organization lists them as “variants under monitoring,” he said.
But there is a caveat, said Dean Blumberg, a professor and the chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UC Davis Health. “There have been very low numbers of sequences being reported to the CDC and from limited locations, so the data is not quite as good as it has been previously,” he said.
The NB. 1.8.1 variant has gotten notoriety because of what is described as “razor blade throat,” Chin-Hong said. But, he said, there have been more sore throat and non-pneumonia symptoms since the omicron variant, so about 70 percent of people with covid, even before the new variants, had a sore throat, and some of them included people with severe sore throat…
Vaccines remain an important defense against the coronavirus, the experts said.
Milton said that he is looking forward to the new vaccine formulations in the fall, which he hopes will have fewer side effects. “I’m not sure how big a deal the change in formulation will be, but I’d much rather boost my immunity with the vaccine than by getting sick,” he added.
The current CDC recommendation is for all adults to receive an updated coronavirus vaccine and for parents to consult doctors to decide whether their children should be vaccinated. But federal health officials have signaled they will probably limit recommendations of the next version of the coronavirus vaccine to people who are 65 or older or have a condition that places them at risk of severe disease…
#Moderna's #Covid vaccine for children has finally moved from an emergency use authorization — an EUA — to a full license. But the FDA approval includes the limitation that Sec. Kennedy announced a while back, that it should be used in kids at high risk from Covid. www.statnews.com/2025/07/10/m…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) July 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
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USA: COVID-19 Cases Rising in 25 States.
"Some of the biggest increases in emergency room visits for COVID have happened in the Pacific Northwest and the Southeast. In those areas, rates are now the highest they’ve been since February and March"
Source: archive.md/ao9aQ— Denis – The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) July 14, 2025 at 10:19 PM
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Florida is seeing the largest increases in transmission of any state right now. Almost 3x higher than any time in the past 9 months.
Other southern and west coast states are rising too but not as quickly. Everywhere else is staying low+flat.— JPWeiland (@jpweiland.bsky.social) July 14, 2025 at 11:34 PM
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Endemic, not pandemic:
Weekly U.S. COVID update:
– New cases: 54,786 est.
– Admissions: 3,835 (+12%)
– In hospital: 3,026 (-2%)
– In ICU: 448 (+9%)
– New deaths: 170
– Average: 226 (-3%)— BNO News (@BNOFeed) July 14, 2025
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So far this year, more than 3.2 million COVID cases have been reported in the U.S., causing 225,985 hospitalizations and 16,010 deaths.
— BNO News (@BNOFeed) July 14, 2025
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South Africa has played a historic, global role in scientific research, from COVID-19 vaccines to HIV.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) July 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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Cell therapy studies in cats are producing clues about treating #LongCovid in humans. Cats w/ feline infectious peritonitis, a severe coronavirus disease, experienced an immune system boost after treatment with a new mesenchymal stromal cell therapy, opening translational avenues for humans👇
— Delthia Ricks (@dricks.bsky.social) July 15, 2025 at 4:05 PM
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GOP (grifter) intrasigence inevitably leads to really bad choices…
The only reasonable gloss of this is "the Republican Party has committed itself to maximum destruction", & the rich guys who are betting they come out ahead in that scenario & funding candidates accordingly need to be confronted & shunned
— Chatham Harrison dba TRUMP DELENDUS EST (@chathamharrison.bsky.social) July 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
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The federal government has dismissed charges against a Utah plastic surgeon accused of throwing away COVID-19 vaccines worth thousands of dollars during the pandemic.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) July 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/u…
What's at stake here is genuinely deeper than the particular issue of COVID vaccination mandates. Effective policymaking and governance, or for that matter social coexistence, can't survive the rule "you may commit professional fraud if you feel like it."— Jacob T. Levy (@jacobtlevy.bsky.social) July 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM
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Wow. “The plaintiffs include the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance.”
— Amanda Katz (@katzish.bsky.social) July 7, 2025 at 12:50 PM
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ICYMI: Pediatrician in Congress tells RFK Jr.: “I will lay all responsibility for every death from a vaccine-preventable illness at your feet." www.huffpost.com/entry/congre…
— Jen Bendery (@jbendery.bsky.social) June 25, 2025 at 10:37 AM
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If the first 100 days’ attacks on health felt too overwhelming to keep track of, there’s a reason. As @scottlgreer.bsky.social @hjarman.bsky.social @xrkulik.bsky.social & I show in Lancet, sweeping cuts to funding, insurance, data, etc will have a dire impact. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti…
— Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver.bsky.social) July 7, 2025 at 7:44 AM
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#Measles Cases Hit Highest Total Since US Eliminated the Disease.
“Experts worry that if vaccination rates do not improve, deadly outbreaks will become the new normal.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/w… #IDSky #MicroSky #MedSky— Current Research in Microbial Sciences (@microbesinfect.bsky.social) July 13, 2025 at 3:33 AM
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Measles detected in Utah wastewater amid new cases in other states
Earlier wastewater detections came ahead of the identification of confirmed cases in other states.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) July 15, 2025 at 4:42 PM
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Kansas, North Dakota, New Jersey record more measles cases
The new cases are part of a national surge fueled by multiple factors, including multiple outbreaks, travel, and a growing number of unvaccinated people.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/m…
Photo: CDC / Heinz F. Eichenwald, MD— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) July 11, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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Yeah idiot it's pretty hard to meet a grown up adult who died of measles at the age of 4 https://t.co/HMOtuJfkB1
— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) July 5, 2025
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One of the things, it seems, is that people need to reinforce that you shouldn’t send your kids to a daycare that doesn’t insist kids be vaccinated.
— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) July 13, 2025 at 11:37 AM
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New #H5N1 #birdful detections in dairy herds are few & far between these days. But the virus is still around. #USDA reported a new infection in California today, CA's 768th & the nation's 1,075th since the outbreak in cows was first recognized in March 2024. www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-po…
— Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 (@helenbranswell.bsky.social) July 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM
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Bangladesh and India alert WHO about new H5N1 infections
Recent illnesses from Bangladesh and India have involved the older 2.3.2.1a clade.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/a…
Photo: NIAID/Flickr cc— CIDRAP (@cidrap.bsky.social) July 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
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Here’s the link to the article. As I mentioned, no news is not good news.https://t.co/gqB84iuHl6
— Dr. Angela Rasmussen (@angie_rasmussen) July 15, 2025
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we are SO! close to one of the biggest goals of medicine, the cure for cancer. And these stupid motherfuckers and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by joining the war on cancer on cancer's side.
— Henry (@henrythedog.bsky.social) July 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
For the Night Shift – Four Directions Native Vote in Virginia (Raffle!)
Ten Bears
I believe it when they say the tick population is up. Got two yesterday
Of course, not paying attention, scratched. Came out the painful way
I’ve never been bruised like that fist-fighting: left arm, elbow to wrist
Been looking for an update, things have slipped. Thank you …
VFX Lurker
I can understand that
However, your informative posts kept us safe then, and you’re helping to keep us safe now.
Thank you for these updates, Anne Laurie.
Nelle
Thank you, AL. On Monday, I started hearing anecdotes of people with Covid and I said, when something happens now, we will have to rely on anecdotes, not data. But whatever data is out there, you seem to find and share. You have made such a huge difference by doing this. I’m indebted to you.
sab
This summer we buried my 49 year old niece who died of long Covid. It was horrible. It paralyzed her, slowly. Arms and hands didn’t work. Then feet. Years in a wheelchair. At the end she couldn’t open her eyes. But chipper to the end.
She had been an amazing person. Left behind a husband and two kids in high school.
I have never seen or heard of a braver person with a debilitating disease.
sab
@Nelle: I agree. These posts have been important to me over the years. Just saying over the years is frightening but here we are.
Baud
Never thought the disease would be the good guys in these stories.
Thank you. AL.
Baud
For those in need of a little jingoism in these dark times.
sab
@Baud: Yikes. They are a petrol economy, but still…
BellyCat
AL… Another appreciative Jackal of your ongoing (and increasingly more difficult) efforts in this vitally important area!
sab
@BellyCat: What exactly is your problem?
Martin
@Baud: ‘Reported’ doing the work there.
Baud
@Martin:
Always a possibility, but we can’t invent numbers in order to make the US seem worse. For all I know, Alberta underreports too.
sab
OT: we slightly rich people have family cemetary plots. My cousins abused their privileges : put their dad in my dad’s plot. Then asked to have their kid in charge.
We are angry over a family graveyard most of us don’t want to be buried in.This should be fun.
Actualy my older sister does want to be there. And the cousins seriously messed up wth my mom and dad. Two places apart. We kids won’t live forever, but for several decades we will be angry. You cannot tell by looking that dad and mom were even married. Cousins’ dad remarried. Our dad didn’t. So why is he ( remarried) even in our plot, next to my mom.
Lapassionara
Thank you, AL.
p.a
Yes, thank you AL
Martin
@Baud: Not suggesting we invent numbers, merely noting that the credibility of US numbers is suspect, and I wouldn’t rely on them for my health. I didn’t intend to suggest that US numbers were higher.
NeenerNeener
@Ten Bears: Hope neither of your ticks was a Lone Star. Two people in my family now have Alpha Gal from Lone Star ticks, and get sick from eating beef, pork, lamb, dairy, etc. They can’t eat anything from a mammal.
stinger
Yes, thank you, Anne Laurie. Five years — you are a BJ and national treasure.
I’m dispirited, too. If we had all settled into a twice-yearly booster, I’d be fine. But the disruption and uncertainty are draining. And to let the anti-vacciners interfere with cures for cancers is unconscionable.
lowtechcyclist
@sab:
I am so sorry about your niece. What a horrible way to go.
My thoughts go out to her husband and kids.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Think I’ll go out to Alberta, weather’s good there in the fall…
Or maybe not.
lowtechcyclist
@Ten Bears:
I’ve found two ticks on me in the past few weeks, and I’ve spent almost no time in the woods this year. We don’t have dogs, and our cats are strictly indoors, so I’m not picking them up from animals. It’s very strange.
New Deal democrat
For those (appropriately) skeptical of CDC data, Biobot is still updating wastewater reports weekly. Here is their latest through July 5:
“COVID-19, influenza A & B, and RSV are holding steady at very low levels in week 27 (through July 5, 2025). Though, we are starting to see an uptick in COVID-19 activity in the West and South. National hospitalizations for COVID-19 and RSV continue to hold steady at low levels, currently at 0.8 and 0 per 100,000 people in week 26 (through June 28, 2025). Flu hospitalizations rates have not been updated on the CDC website since May 3rd.”
The CDC wastewater report is similar. JP Weiland reports that the one big uptick is in Florida, with smaller increases elsewhere in the South and West. Unfortunately, the CDC is no longer updating variant proportions biweekly any more. The latest report is through June 21 and is so virtually useless.
COVID deaths continue to be at very low levels. In the past 52 weeks, only slightly over 35,000 people have died from COVID. In the most recent finally reported week of June 14, there were only 152 deaths, the lowest ever reported. In the latest preliminarily reported week of July 5, there were only 57 deaths, also the lowest ever.
The measles outbreak continues to perk along with roughly 20 new confirmed cases each week, now with the 2025 total up to 1288. There have still only been 3 deaths; 13% of cases have resulted in hospitalizations. Roughly 1/3rd of all cases are children under 5, 1/3rd older children, and 1/3rd adults – all absolutely preventable and needless.
Betty
Thank you, Anne, for persevering through these dark days. Praying for better days ahead.
frosty
@NeenerNeener: OMG a tick-borne disease I hadn’t heard of. I am the tick magnet in the family. I get them just looking at tall grass on a hike. The only fortunate thing about this one is we’ve been cutting beef etc. out of our diet for the last couple of years.
Anyway
@frosty: Alpha-gal is a big one in the Southeast — used to be real niche but has increased in prevalence over the last 5-8 years. It’s allergy to anything mammalian and crops up in many unsuspecting places not just red meat. Our supply chain is strange. A friend of mine gets shots every six months ….
NeenerNeener
@Anyway: Alpha-Gal has gotten so common around here that the local hospitals have created a separate menu for patients who have to stay over and will be eating meals there.
Anyway
@NeenerNeener: wow. Six (eight?) years ago it took the ER staff a whole day to diagnose my friend of alpha-gal.
Denali5
I did stop by Walgreens last week and got my co-vid booster. So I feel good about that.
bluefoot
Thanks for continuing to do this, AL.
Ive heard anecdotally of an increase in COVID cases in my area but limited actual data. I’ve seen more people masking. Though not in the airport…
I am in the right age cohort to wonder if I still have measles immunity because of the vaccine I received as a child. I go for my regular physical soon and plan to press for a measles and a Covid booster. Especially since I’m traveling to Ontario at the end of the summer.
RobertS
It’s still out there. I had COVID last week. I think I got it at the Nashville airport. I’m pretty sure my shots were up to date, but I’m not certain. Get your shots!
glc
Thanks. Useful information, as always.
Matt McIrvin
“Razor blade throat” sounds exactly like what I experienced for the worst day of my very first COVID infection (Omicron, back in January 2023). Absolutely the worst sore throat I’ve ever experienced, like a really bad strep infection. But that only lasted for about 24 hours. And it didn’t happen the second and last time I got it, at the end of the same year.
Harrison Wesley
So Florida is leading the Covid charge. Great. Glad I’m stocked up with KN95s. Never thought I’d be looking forward to getting a shot.
Jay
Thank you, Anne, and all who contribute.
O. Felix Culpa
@RobertS: I’m scheduled for next week. About to take a long flight, and want all the disease-resistance I can get. Both my doctor and the pharmacist said that an MMR booster is unnecessary, though, and I hope they’re right. 🤞
Matt
They like cancer. They approve of the idea of part of a system deliberately destroying that system in the pursuit of unlimited growth, because they see themselves in that.
This country needs political chemotherapy
moonbat
I read this first thing this morning but didn’t have time to thank you, AL, for being on top of this. In my regular ‘news feed’ you would think COVID didn’t exist these days. I really, really appreciate your keeping us apprised.