It’s the summer of 2024, and the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. The virus continues to evolve, but in a more predictable way.
New variants have emerged, improved vaccines are on the way, and new preventative treatments are on the way to protect the most vulnerable from severe COVID-19 illness. Instead of the blanket, one-size-fits-all approach taken early in the pandemic, the U.S. COVID-19 response is now primarily focused on high-risk groups. That means there may be less the average healthy person can do. But awareness is key to staying healthy, experts say. That’s why it’s more important than ever to know how exposed you are.
Here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 this summer.
FliRT variants are now dominant. What does this mean?
The latest data shows that the COVID virus variant known as KP.3 now accounts for about a quarter of U.S. cases, more than any other form. Centers for Disease Control and PreventionKP.3 recently overtook its close relative KP.2, both of which belong to a group known as FLiRT variants. All of these relatives are descendants of Omicron, the more transmissible variant of the disease that has spread worldwide since late 2021.
But the FLiRT variant is “very different from the previous Omicron variant, so the protection offered by the current vaccines is unlikely to last very long,” based on that variant, XBB.1.5. Dr. Amesh Adalja“This is the new normal. New variants will continually emerge and have the ability to infect large numbers of previously immune populations. This is what we should expect now and going forward,” an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security tells Yahoo Life.
But the good news is that the newly dominant variants don’t appear to be more likely to cause severe illness, hospitalization or death, Adalja said.
What are the symptoms associated with KP.3?
Adalja said the symptoms are essentially the same no matter which variant you’re infected with. “Everybody’s talking about these changing symptoms,” Adalja said. Dr. David Smith“But really, the symptoms are the same as they were at the beginning of the pandemic: the old-fashioned cough, fever, sore throat, feeling unwell, fatigue,” said John Myers, chief of infectious diseases at the University of California, San Diego. The New York Times also reported that patients are generally feeling “sick.” CDCCommon symptoms include:
A new vaccine is coming this fall. Who should wait and who should get vaccinated now?
of The CDC advises Everyone age 5 and older is required to receive one dose of one of the current COVID vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax, although younger children, adults 65 and older and those with immunocompromised immune systems may need multiple doses, according to the agency.
But with a new vaccine expected to become available this fall, expert advice is a bit more complicated. If you haven’t yet gotten the current vaccine, “most people can probably hold off on getting it,” Adalja says. “Getting it now may make the new vaccine less effective in the fall.” The FDA is urging vaccine makers to update their vaccines for the fall to protect against the JN.1 lineage, a descendant of the FLiRT variant.
Adalja said that for most people, whether or not to get vaccinated this summer will be a “case-by-case” decision, and advises people to consider the following:
How long has it been since your last vaccination?
How high is the risk of serious illness?
What risk category you are in (e.g., older people, overweight people, people with chronic illnesses, people who are immunosuppressed)
How long has it been since your last COVID infection?
Whether you are pregnant
Smith said people over 65 should get the current vaccine if they haven’t already. “We’re coming into the summer wave and the vaccine is [FliRT] “The risk of contracting the variant is low,” he tells Yahoo Life. “If you’re relatively healthy and not elderly, you can make that decision for yourself. But if you’re not, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be infected during the summer wave.”
Will there be a surge in the summer?
Perhaps that’s true, as cases are already beginning to rise: COVID test positivity rose to 4.5% in the week ending June 1, up from 3.8% in the two weeks prior. CDC DataAnd emergency room visits due to COVID-19 increased by 16.2% during the week ending June 1. However, hospitalizations and deaths have remained stable.
According to TIME magazine, wastewater monitoring has already shown early signs of a surge in cases, with infections concentrated in the Northeast, South, West and Hawaii. Wastewater monitoring can tell you how many people are infected with COVID (or any other infectious disease) before the test positivity rate changes.
“The wave is starting… but who knows if there will be a big summer wave like we’ve had every summer. [the COVID pandemic] “We’re just getting started,” Smith said. Adalja said an increase in COVID cases is to be expected with the emergence of new variants. “It’s not something that our health care system can’t manage, but it’s increasing,” he said.
What else should you do to stay safe?
Both experts warn that any time you spend time in crowded places, especially amid the summer surge in FLiRT, there’s some risk of contracting COVID-19. This doesn’t mean that everyone should stay home, it just means that you should be aware of the risk and do what you can to mitigate it.
“The main behavior that needs to be ingrained in our culture is that if you’re sick, stay home,” Smith said. “And the opposite is also true. We need to be more tolerant when someone says, ‘If you’re sick, stay home.’ I think it’s better not to come because I’m not feeling well. [to work] Or go to that event“… We need to thank that person for caring about us and not exposing us to COVID-19 or other infectious diseases.”
Are the testing guidelines still the same?
yes The CDC still recommends testing. If you have COVID symptoms or know you’ve been in contact with someone with the virus, you should get a test at home. “If you’re not feeling well, you should get tested,” Smith says. If your first at-home test is negative, the CDC says the best way to make sure you don’t have COVID is to get a second test within 48 hours if you have symptoms, and a third at-home test if you don’t have symptoms.
However, you will no longer be able to request free testing from the U.S. government; that program was phased out in March 2024. Private insurance companies also no longer have to pay for testing, although some still cover the cost of testing, as do Medicaid and Medicare.
What should I do if I get infected?
The CDC Recommendations In March, the government made quarantine mandatory after testing positive, but now it simply advises people to stay at home and avoid contact with others if they have symptoms. If you have been fever-free or have no symptoms for at least 24 hours, you do not need to stay at home.
“If you test positive, you should talk to your doctor about whether you need treatment,” Smith recommends. But he adds that there is no good treatment for COVID yet, and only one approved is paxlovir. “It’s not a quick cure like Tamiflu, it’s more to prevent severe illness,” Adalja says. CDC They are recommending that people at high risk of severe illness be given the prescription drug Paxlobidi, which should be taken within five to seven days of the onset of symptoms.
But for most people, they can recover at home and use over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to manage symptoms, officials said.