The Weather
Amazon announced that it will require corporate employees to work on site in their corporate offices five days a week, beginning in 2025. This continues Amazon’s previous return-to-office push, which included a requirement for three days per week on site announced in February 2023. Some return-to-office initiatives such as at Dell have been criticized as a potential cover for stealth layoffs. Remote work continues to provide a safer alternative to maskless workplaces as well as providing greater flexibility, better quality of life, and reduced environmental impacts due to decreased fossil fuel use. Expanded remote work options since the beginning of the pandemic have improved access to employment for disabled people, and unnecessary return-to-office requirements are likely to have a disproportionate impact on disabled workers. Federal workers have faced multiple attacks on remote work, including a bill recently introduced by Republican Senator Cassidy of Louisiana to reduce pay and benefits for remote workers. You can support remote work for federal employees via this Action Network letter campaign.
Across the country, many college campuses have instituted new rules limiting protest activities. Some of these rules restrict the use of masks “to conceal identity” or require masked people to be prepared to unmask for identification. These rules, in addition to threatening public health by discouraging mask-wearing, open the door to enforcement that is biased against BIPOC individuals and other marginalized groups. Visit our No Mask Bans page for resources and ideas to take action, and refer to our protest guide for tips on organizing safer and more inclusive protests.
Wins
Free rapid tests from the US government are back at CovidTests.gov, and demand for these tests was so great that it crashed the website to sign up. As of this writing, the website is back up. You can order four free COVID rapid antigen tests. We recommend checking the expiration date of your tests when you receive them, which may be extended from the original printed date. Over 13,000 letters have been sent to elected officials requesting free rapid antigen tests using our Action Network campaign, and this campaign remains open to submit additional letters. Although these free tests are a great start, many more tests and additional resources are needed as we face ongoing COVID risks. Additional mechanisms of distribution are also needed, as people living in apartment buildings are still reporting problems with the USPS address-based test request form. In the meantime, check with your local health department to find out if free rapid antigen tests are available near you. For uninsured people with COVID symptoms or exposures, free testing through CDC ICATT sites continues to be available.
Wastewater
According to data last updated 9/27/2024, the CDC’s national wastewater map shows 34 states and territories (including the District of Columbia) with “High” or “Very High” wastewater levels. There is no data for Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or North Dakota. South Dakota, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Virginia are indicated as having limited coverage, which means that data in these states represent less than 5% of the population.
Although CDC has updated the map coloring, the original “activity levels” that allow two color gradations per named level (“Low,” “Moderate,” or “High” for example) are still available within the dataset. For this report, we have kept our recent color scheme. If we make updates to the color scheme in the future, we will note any changes within the map legend as well as the text of the Weather Report.
According to the Wastewater COVID-19 National and Regional Trends dashboard, all regions show a downward trend over the last several weeks, although the Midwest, South, and West continue to show “High” or “Very High” levels within the provisional data. Notably, the provisional data (within the last two weeks, indicated by the gray box) can change as additional wastewater data are collected.
Although some states and regions have recently moved to lower categories of wastewater levels, the categories have not been validated in terms of correlations with case-level data or overall risk in daily life. A downward trend is certainly better than increasing levels; however, the only way to ensure sustained decreases in COVID spread is multilayered protections with strong societal support, including paid sick leave and robust work from home options. A downward trend may soon be followed by increases driven by people gathering without precautions, including the upcoming fall and winter holidays. See our Safer Gatherings brief guide for gathering options that are inclusive and show community care. Multilayered precautions, including masking wherever you share air, continue to be warranted regardless of wastewater levels in the ongoing pandemic, to protect yourself and your community.
You can find additional information for some locations on CDC’s state/territory trends page as well as the WastewaterSCAN dashboard, and on your state health department or other local dashboards, if available.
Variants
According to the CDC’s variant tracking dashboard Nowcast estimates for 9/28/2024 (data updated 9/25/2024), KP.3.1.1 is the predominant variant at 58.7%, with other JN.1 subvariants KP.2.3, LB.1, and KP.3 making up around 10% or less of the circulating variants. XEC, a recombinant variant derived from two JN.1 subvariants (KS.1.1 and KP.3.3), appears on the dashboard for the first time, with a Nowcast estimate of 6%. All of the currently listed variants with estimated percentage over 1% are JN.1-derived and closely related to KP.2, so the recently updated Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax vaccines are expected to be effective as part of a multilayered approach to precautions. See “Take Action” below for actions to improve vaccine access.
Graphic source: CDC Variant Tracker
Vaccination
COVID vaccines become less effective in preventing infections in the months following vaccination. This is known as waning immunity, and it occurs with all three FDA-authorized COVID vaccines. Waning effectiveness over time is an important reason to get the latest vaccines you are eligible for, including the updated 2024-2025 formulations. A recently published study in Nature sheds light on one potential mechanism for waning immunity, attributing it to the lack of a specific long-lived type of antibody-producing cells (plasma cells) in the bone marrow. Further research may eventually lead to development of vaccines that provide longer lasting effectiveness, although significant improvements are not guaranteed and may take years.
This finding further supports our continued push for more frequent vaccine access, as highlighted in our recent public comment campaign to CDC’s ACIP committee that makes vaccine recommendations. The CDC has not yet decided to recommend spring COVID boosters, although immunocompromised people may receive one or more additional doses. Please keep an eye out for actions related to CDC’s upcoming ACIP meetings, and see “Take Action” below for action to provide free COVID vaccines for uninsured adults.
Take Action
Masking wherever you share air is a key protection for yourself and your community, whether you are exercising your right to free speech or going about your day. For flyers and ideas on how to take action against mask bans, visit our No Mask Bans page.
As mentioned earlier in this report, remote work is a win-win for both public health and reducing fossil fuel use. Support remote work for federal employees via this Action Network letter campaign.
As the CDC’s COVID Bridge program ended prematurely in August, getting free vaccines for uninsured adults has become a more urgent issue. Some states have provided access, but this is far too limited. We have two ways to participate in demanding free COVID vaccines for uninsured adults: flyering in your community on October 1, and sending letters to your elected officials via our Action Network campaign.
It is unconscionable that the US government has cut vaccine funding while finding a new 8.9 billion dollars to send to Israel to expand their genocide to Lebanon, at the same time when severe flooding due to climate change has devastated communities across the southeastern US. All our fates are connected. All our humanity is at stake. Stop the genocide. Arms embargo now.
Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 9/27/2024. 2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more at https://peoplescdc.org. 3) Subscribe to our newsletter: People’s CDC | Substack.