A little-known CDC advisory committee is suddenly in the public spotlight, as it considers recommending fewer safety measures to reduce infection in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Despite major pushback at a recent meeting, it’s unclear whether this committee will actually live up to its infection control duties.
Read MoreSources and updates for the week of August 27 include funding from Project Next Gen, wastewater testing for more viruses, health misinformation, and more.
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Last week, I introduced you to BA.2.86, a new Omicron variant that’s garnered attention among COVID-19 experts due to its significant mutations. We’ve learned a lot about BA.2.86 since last Sunday, though there are many unanswered questions to be answered as more research is conducted.
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This week, our limited COVID-19 data picture suggests that transmission may be starting to level off. But if BA.2.86 or another newer variant enters this high-spread environment, the outlook could get less rosy.
Read MoreThe Nebraska state health department has discontinued its wastewater surveillance data page, depriving residents of important COVID-19 updates at a time when cases are rising.
Read MoreSources and updates for the week of August 20 include a wastewater data toolkit, vaccine delays, budget cuts at the CDC, and more.
Read MoreLast week, several variant experts that I follow on Twitter started posting about a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, first detected in Israel. They initially called it Omicron BA.X while waiting for more details to emerge about the sequence; it’s now been named BA.2.86.
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The National Institute of Health (NIH) is under fire for censoring comments from patients on social media — the latest in a trend of heavy criticism from people living with Long COVID for failing to listen to patients and implement their input into its $1.15 billion study, RECOVER.
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The summer COVID-19 surge continues. While wastewater surveillance data suggest that transmission trends may be turning around in some places, the virus is largely still increasing across the U.S. New variants are on the horizon, too.
Read MoreThe CDC expects that our next round of COVID-19 booster shots will be available in early fall, likely late September or early October. But this limited information has been distributed not through formal reports or press releases—rather, through the new CDC director’s media appearances.
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