COVID-19 on slight rise in U.S., but remain lower than last year
The Ohio Department of Health wants residents to get booster shots for COVID-19 as cases are on a slight rise again in the U.S.
Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said this increase in cases shouldn’t be a concern because infections are still lower than during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s important to know that these are increases are very low and we still are experiencing some of the lowest levels case numbers since the start of the pandemic,” said Dr. Vanderhoff. “Consider this: One year ago, on August 17, 2022, there had been over 23,000 new cases in the previous week. Last week, there were just under 3,000, 87% fewer than at this point last year.”
According to Dr. Vanderhoff, the new cases are still variants from the Omicron family, which the booster shots protect against.
“It’s quite clear that COVID isn’t gone,” he said. “What we really do need to do is prepare ourselves for the upcoming fall and winter respiratory season, which will undoubtedly include COVID-19, influenza and RSV again this year. The best way for us to protect ourselves from these three respiratory viruses is to keep up to date with the appropriate vaccinations.”
He also said there would be an updated booster shot expected to be approved and recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration later this fall.
RSV vaccine update
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved nirsevimab to protect newborns and toddlers against the respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.
Dr. Michael Forbes, chief academic officer at Akron Children’s Hospital, treats RSV.
“I have seen the worst versions of RSV, where it’s either life-changing, life-threatening or even resulted in loss of life,” he said. “This is actually a historic moment for us in pediatrics.”
Dr. Forbes said the FDA approved the vaccine after three major clinical trials were conducted to determine how safe the vaccine was for kids.
“The good news is the safety profile for the drug is very, very favorable; the most common reported safety effects or safety related events or local inflammation at the injection site,” said Dr. Forbes. “It’s very safe, highly effective, and reduces the chances or the risk of a medically-attended RSV-related encounter by about 70% overall and reduces hospitalization by almost 75%. So a real game changer for us.”
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This story was originally published August 18, 2023 at 6:00 AM.