Statement: Last week, President Biden stated that “the pandemic is over.” The People’s CDC rejects this statement entirely.
We refuse to consider a pandemic that is still killing about 400+ people every day in the US, disabling many with Long COVID, and (re)infecting millions because of lack of mitigations, “over.” This statement concedes to mass disability and death. This cannot be normalized!
Saying the pandemic is over is especially dismissive of the communities and individuals who have been most affected by COVID–the elderly, incarcerated people, immigrants, immunocompromised folks, those with chronic conditions, BIPOC people, frontline workers, to name a few.
Join us in demanding that Biden & Congress promote safety & equity: We need layers of protection via free, quality masking & testing, ventilation, universal health care, treatments, and more.
El clima: As has been the case since early June, over 98 percent of the population lives in areas with substantial or higher COVID transmission.
Sobre variantes: BA.5 remains the overwhelming majority variant at 83 percent while BA.4.6 has become a slightly larger share of cases. BF.7 and BA.2.75 also show modest growth.
Monitoreo de aguas residuales: As of the time of this writing, @biobotanalytics has not posted new wastewater data. They report that they will post an update early this week. For our next report, we will have data to show.
Vaccinations: We strongly recommend that people get vaccinated with the new bivalent booster. In the past few weeks, we have reported on the booster; take a look & share this information.
Three weeks into the rollout, only 2 percent of those eligible have signed up for the vaccine. With the winter fast approaching & the limitations of infection-induced immunity, COVID cases are expected to surge beyond the plateau we have seen all summer.
To address misinformation about COVID vaccination impacting fertility, a new systematic review –a study of studies–has been published, showing no association between vaccination and fertility.
Hospitalizaciones: Hospitalizaciones again declined this past week for adults and children.
However, the hospitalization rate remains fairly high for children compared to the rate throughout the rest of the pandemic. The rate may increase as children return to school without masking requirements or upgraded air ventilation.
A new genomic blood test has been developed that can detect and predict the severity of COVID for patients with an accuracy of over 90 percent. This can help reduce the chances of hospitalization.
Fallecidos: From September 15th through September 21st, 2,470 people died of COVID nationally.
Sobre COVID largo: A new longitudinal cohort study found that prolonged symptoms can persist two years after acute COVID infection.
Pronóstico: @Oxfam responded to the Lancet COVID Commission reporte on lessons from the pandemic.
They emphasize the role of “nationalism, racism, profiteering, and an overreaching intellectual property system” as barriers to vaccine access in low income countries.
They write: “Saving lives must come before profits and decisions about who lives and who dies are never again outsourced to the CEOs of big pharma.” Read more aquí.
We know that workers have and continue to bear the brunt of COVID mortality, as demonstrated in a @thelancet estudio reciente. Emergency workers in particular had a higher death rate during the 2021 than any other sector.
On Friday, the CDC issued nueva guía significantly weakening infection control for patients and workers in healthcare settings. It waters down language from requiring to “recommending” or “considering” crucial measures around mask wearing, testing, and indoor air quality.
Como @mattbc summarized, “CDC is making healthcare facilities even more dangerous for chronically ill, disabled, immunocompromised, and older Americans.”
This new CDC guidance is horrific. It lowers standards for infection control and is part of a deliberate campaign to ratchet down any remaining efforts to avoid mass disability and death.
¡Acciones a tomar! In addition to sending letters to Biden & Congress, mentioned on the top of this report, sign this petition to OSHA to issue permanent COVID protections for healthcare workers! We need to fight against the CDC’s ableist and eugenic policies.
Check out our Fighting for Worker Safety infosheet, hot off the press! In it, there are resources on campaigning for safety in the workplace, through policy, and more.
Dr. Marwa Zaatari, a scientist and whistleblower who brought attention to Global Plasma Solution (GPS) products that claimed to kill COVID without evidence, is being sued by GPS. Read more about this aquí. We denounce this move to put profits over people’s lives.
Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 9/23. The CDC updates data frequently as it receives refreshed information. Today’s numbers may be slightly different from the data here. 2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more! https://peoplescdc.org.