Antivirals Can Protect Against Severe Illness from COVID-19. Take Advantage.

This message includes updates on the COVID-19 response from CDC. This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

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December 22, 2023 This message includes updates on COVID-19 from CDC.

Antivirals and COVID-19 Antivirals are an important tool for treating people with COVID-19 but are often underused. COVID-19 antivirals help reduce hospitalizations and deaths among people at higher risk, especially people 65 years and older and those with certain underlying conditions. COVID-19 antivirals need to be prescribed more often to people who are at risk for severe illness to reduce hospitalizations and save lives.

If You Get Sick with COVID-19, Antiviral Treatments Can Protect You Against Severe Illness With COVID-19 hospitalizations on the rise, it is important that people who get sick and are at higher risk for severe illness get on treatment in the first days of illness, since symptoms can change and worsen quickly. While these antivirals are effective at preventing severe disease, not enough people are taking them. Antivirals can provide additional protection, even if you are vaccinated, if: You are at least 50 years of age, especially 65 and older, OR You have certain underlying medical conditions, such as a weakened immune system, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, or chronic lung disease, regardless of your age If you get sick with COVID-19, you should talk to a medical provider about getting treatment if you fall into either of these two categories. Find out more.

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Health Alert Network (HAN) Update on COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Illness Increases

This message includes updates on the COVID-19 response from CDC. This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

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December 15, 2023 This message includes updates on COVID-19 from CDC.

Respiratory Illnesses Are on the Rise. There Is Still Time to Get  Vaccinated Respiratory illness activity is rapidly increasing across the United States, yet vaccination rates for COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remain low. Millions of people may get sick in the next month or two, and low vaccination rates means more people will get more severe disease. Getting vaccinated now can help prevent hospitalizations and save lives. CDC is reaching out to healthcare providers and clinicians to encourage them to recommend all patients receive all respiratory immunizations they are eligible for. On December 14, CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory to raise awareness about respiratory illness activity and urge action. To increase vaccination coverage, COVID-19 vaccines are available at no cost to people who are uninsured or underinsured through the Bridge Access Program. Respiratory illness activity is rising COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly. Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas. In some parts of the country, hospital beds for children are already nearly as full as they were this time last year. If these trends continue, the situation at the end of this month could again strain emergency departments and hospitals, as it did in winter 2022-2023. Strain on the healthcare system could mean that patients with other serious health conditions may face delays in receiving care. On December 14, CDC issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory to healthcare providers and public health officials highlighting the increased respiratory disease activity occurring in the United States, particularly in the southern part of the country, and internationally. The HAN noted that low vaccination rates for COVID-19, influenza, and RSV could lead to more severe disease and a strained healthcare system for the rest of the season. These low rates can also lead to more days of missed work and school. There’s still time to get vaccinated. Talk with your trusted healthcare provider about which vaccines you and your loved ones need to stay healthy this holiday season and into the new year. Find out more.

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The Delivery - Remarkable stories from the COVID-19 vaccine delivery efforts

No images? Click here   The-Delivery.org is now live Over the past three years, the global health and science community has made public health history. For 1221 days, countries fought to save lives and prevent serious illness as we endeavored to make COVID-19 vaccines available everywhere.   The-Delivery.org is a digital vaccine carrier box, a time capsule of sorts, preserving the stories and scientific findings of the COVID-19 vaccine delivery efforts.  Within it, you’ll find everything from the number of lives saved by the vaccine to the financial burden the rollout placed on countries, to the logistics behind the journey of a vaccine vial around the globe.        Putting faces to the numbers, human stories from the frontline are interwoven throughout – stories that were uncovered by working with a network of photojournalists to document vaccine deliveries in the most challenging environments. Now, it is time to process our incredible journey, reflecting on the lessons of COVID-19 vaccine delivery so we can better prepare for the future.   To help media organizations tell the story of COVID-19, we have made The Delivery available to all media under a Creative Commons license – meaning the text, imagery and other assets are freely available to be used by our media partners. Should you have any questions about what this means or how to get hold of the work in formats which work for you and your organization, please don't hesitate to get in touch.       Forward  www.the-delivery.org The Delivery © 2023 by WHO, UNICEF, Gavi and CEPI is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International - CC BY 4.0 You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive news and updates on immunization and vaccines. Preferences  |  Unsubscribe

New Weekly Updates on U.S. Viral Respiratory Illness Activity

This message includes updates on the COVID-19 response from CDC. This is a rapidly evolving situation and information will be updated as it becomes available.

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December 5, 2023 This message includes updates on COVID-19 from CDC.

New: Weekly Updates on Fall and Winter Virus Season  CDC and public health partners are working to help people protect themselves this fall and winter virus season, when COVID-19, flu, and RSV are spreading at the same time. You can use CDC's new web tool to find weekly updates on respiratory viral illness activity in the United States or in your area, along with other key data on whether things are getting better or worse, and who is most affected by serious consequences such as hospitalizations or even deaths. Visit our respiratory illness website to learn how to stay safe, find resources and toolkits, and stay updated with the weekly viral respiratory illness snapshot.

Take Steps to Stay Healthy During the Holidays  Gathering with loved ones to celebrate the holidays is an important tradition for many, but it is also a time when many viruses are more likely to spread. You and your loved ones can take action to help prevent respiratory virus illnesses during the holidays and at other times: Get recommended vaccines against respiratory viruses. Get tested if you have signs or symptoms of a respiratory illness. Talk to your doctor about whether you should get treated with antiviral medication if you have a higher risk for serious illness. Use everyday healthy behaviors, including staying home when sick.

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What to Know About Getting COVID-19, Flu, and RSV Vaccines at the Same Time CDC recently posted an article on what you need to know about receiving COVID-19, flu, and RSV vaccines (if eligible for an RSV vaccine) at the same time. Getting multiple vaccines at the same time is safe and can help keep you up to date, especially if you might not be able to make multiple visits to your provider. Whether you choose to get vaccinated at the same visit or at separate visits, the most important thing is that you get all vaccines recommended for you to protect against these illnesses.

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V-safe Adults 60 years and older and people between 32-36 weeks pregnant can now register for V-safe after receiving an RSV vaccine to tell CDC how they feel after vaccination. V-safe is a safety monitoring system that lets you share with CDC how you or your dependent (family member, friend, or a person who relies on you for support) feels after getting an RSV vaccine. V-safe originally launched in December 2020 to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines. To use V-safe, you’ll need to create an account using a computer, smartphone, or tablet by visiting vsafe.cdc.gov. After you register, V-safe will send you personalized and confidential health check-ins via text messages or emails to quickly and easily share how you feel after getting your vaccination. The data collected through V-safe help CDC inform the public about what to expect following vaccination.  V-safe is one of several systems that CDC uses to closely monitor the safety of vaccines. Learn More

Updates to This Newsletter CDC is expanding the information you receive through this COVID-19 newsletter to also include information on protecting yourself and loved ones against other respiratory viruses. If you’d like to continue receiving this newsletter, you’re all set – no action is needed. If you do not wish to receive a newsletter that includes this additional content on other respiratory viruses, you can remove yourself at the unsubscribe page.

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