COVID-19 Resources
Fact Sheet: Biden Administration Outlines Strategy to Manage BA.5 — On July 12th, the White House COVID-19 Team announced its strategy to manage BA.5, a subvariant of the Omicron variant. The strategy relies on ensuring that Americans continue to have easy and convenient access to the vaccines, treatments, tests, and other tools that protect against and treat COVID-19.
Reactogenicity of Simultaneous COVID-19 mRNA Booster and Influenza Vaccination: V-safe – United States, September 22, 2021-May 1, 2022 —A recent review of v-safe vaccine safety data from September 22, 2021-May 1, 2022, found that people who received an mRNA COVID-19 booster vaccine and an influenza (flu) vaccine at the same healthcare visit were only 8-11% more likely to report systemic reactions (i.e., headache, fatigue, and muscle pain) than after receiving just the booster alone. Most of the reactions in both groups during the week following vaccination were generally mild. Since symptoms of flu can be similar to COVID-19 symptoms and both flu and COVID-19 can cause severe illness, it is important for people to get both vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines may be given at the same healthcare visit with other vaccines, including flu vaccine. Administering the COVID-19 vaccines at the same visit as other vaccines is important because it increases the probability that people will be fully vaccinated. It is also an important part of immunization practice if healthcare providers are uncertain that a patient will return for additional vaccinations.
People who have already been vaccinated can enroll in v-safe and record their doses. Parents or guardians can also enroll their vaccinated children in v-safe. People can tell CDC how they or their dependent feel after getting any does of the COVID-19 vaccine. The participation in v-safe helps CDC monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for everyone.
Additional CDC resources on this topic can be found here:
COVID-19 Pandemic Reverses Progress in Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance in U.S. — The COVID-19 pandemic pushed back years of progress made combating antimicrobial resistance (AR) in the United States. A new report from the CDC, COVID-19: U.S. Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance, Special Report 2022, concludes that the threat of antimicrobial-resistant infections is not only still present but has gotten worse—with resistant hospital-onset infections and deaths both increasing at least 15% during the first year of the pandemic.
In the report, CDC analyzed the state of antimicrobial resistance in the United States immediately following the 2020 peaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data show an alarming increase in resistant infections starting during hospitalization, growing an overall 15% from 2019 to 2020 among seven pathogens. These surges reflect a reversal of progress noted in CDC’s 2019 AR Threats Report, which previously showed a reduction of AR deaths by 18% overall from 2012 to 2017.
CDC is and will remain at the forefront of combating antimicrobial resistance. Though the pandemic reversed much of the progress in the past decade on infection prevention and control, the fight will now take on a renewed fervor in prevention-focused public health actions to keep the nation safe.
You can view the media statement, detailed report,and one-pagers on CDC’s website.
Additional COVID-19 Resources
We Can Do This: Vaccines for Young Children — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) public education campaign, We Can Do This, recently launched the Pediatricians and Family Physicians ToolkitMorbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) — Safety Monitoring of COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine First Booster Doses Among Persons Aged ≥12 Years with Presumed Immunocompromise Status — United States, January 12, 2022–March 28, 2022 — To characterize the safety of first booster doses among immunocompromised persons aged ≥12 years during January 12, 2022–March 28, 2022, CDC reviewed adverse events and health impact assessments reported to v-safe and the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) during the week after receipt of an mRNA COVID-19 first booster dose. V-safe is a voluntary smartphone-based safety surveillance system for adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination. VAERS is a passive surveillance system for all vaccine-associated adverse events co-managed by CDC and the Food and Drug Administration. A fourth mRNA dose reported to v-safe or VAERS during January 12, 2022–March 28, 2022, was presumed to be an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster dose administered to an immunocompromised person because no other population was authorized to receive a fourth dose during that period. You can learn more here:Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) — COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Availability and Vaccination Coverage Among Children Aged 5–11 Years — United States, November 1, 2021–April 25, 2022 — As of June 7, 2022, 36.0% of children aged 5–11 years in the United States had received ≥1 of COVID-19 vaccine. Among factors that might influence vaccination coverage is the availability of vaccine providers. To better understand how provider availability has affected COVID-19 vaccination coverage among children aged 5–11 years, CDC analyzed data on active COVID-19 vaccine providers and county-level vaccine administration data during November 1, 2021–April 25, 2022.You can learn more here:Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
Monkeypox Virus
Update on Commercial Orthopoxvirus Testing — Over the past two days, Aegis Sciences and Quest Diagnostics began testing for orthopoxvirus at their labs. The addition of these two commercial laboratories increases the current capacity provided through CDC’s Laboratory Response Network (LRN), Labcorp, and Mayo Clinic Laboratories. More information can be found in CDC's media statement and on today's partner update.
Upcoming Calls/Webinars
Public Health Partner Update: Monkeypox in the U.S.—There will be a Public Health Partner Update, Thursday, July 21, 202, and July 28, 2022 at 1:00 PM (EST). Please download and import the following iCalendar files to your calendar system.
Please click here to join the webinar. Passcode: ^r$5n0rH
Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 (669) 254-5252 or +1 (646) 828-7666 or +1 (551) 285-1373 or +1 (669) 216-1590
Webinar ID: 161 680 8152
Passcode: 02635243