El clima
The most recent CDC national wastewater map, updated on June 12, 2025, shows data from June 1 to June 7 of this year. Light colors throughout the country show that low and very low levels of COVID were found in wastewater.
Only Guam is shown to have very high levels, but with limited data. Four other states also have limited data, meaning it is based on less than 5% of the population. Changes from our last report include DC showing high levels of COVID. Nevada, Texas, and Louisiana show moderate levels of COVID in wastewater. There is no data for North Dakota and the US Virgin Islands.
El CDC says that current national levels are “Very Low,” with the West having the highest levels. Remember that even if your state’s overall levels look low, certain areas within it may have higher levels. You can check your state here to see more detailed local data.
Wastewater Trends
Wastewater trends show that the amount of COVID in wastewater is remaining relatively stable, at low or very low levels across the country.
Variants
El CDC’s variant tracking dashboard projects that NB.1.8.1 will make up 1 in every 3 COVID cases in the US. This new variant, noted in our last report for its growing presence abroad, is now expected to be almost as common as LP.8.1, which remains the dominant variant in the US and worldwide. The CDC added NB.1.8.1 to the COVID variants in wastewater reporting tool this month.
Since the WHO’s initial assessment in May, this new variant has shown higher transmissibility, which means it is more easily passed from person to person. This expected increase suggests we should be ready for a possible summer surge. The WHO noted that current vaccines should offer protection from this new variant.
Graphic source: CDC Variant Tracker
Wins
This weekend, millions of people took to the street to demonstrate their opposition to authoritarianism. And let last weekend’s protest not overshadow the weeks of escalating ICE protests throughout the country, in which people have put their bodies on the line, to de-arrest their community members and interfere with ICE’s escalation of violent and deceptive tactics ese lack due process. We are heartened that so many oppose this regime, and encourage all that attended No Kings to stay engaged and continue to learn about ways to interfere with authoritarianism in the US.
Thanks to effective and sustained organizing, Minnesota’s Long COVID program was saved from cuts! This success highlights the importance of organizing and making public comments wherever possible.
Vaccines
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) supposedly still plans to meet June 25th through the 27th. It will vote on who should be able to get COVID vaccines, and how often. Their decisions will impact whether doctors will prescribe and insurance will cover the vaccines. Who exactly will be represented at this ACIP meeting? We don’t know, since RFK’s unprecedented and sadly unsurprising removal of all 17 sitting members of the committee. This has raised alarms amongst public health experts who are concerned what this means for vaccine access and the trustworthiness of ACIP recommendations in general.
It remains important that we support COVID vaccine access for all through public comment, which is still open as of June 9th. Comments must be received by June 20th for consideration during the meeting. RFK has already started naming new ACIP members ahead of the meeting, including people who have expressed anti-vaccine and other anti-public-health ideologies. Adding new members typically requires a thorough and transparent vetting process. This ensures that they have the proper qualifications, and will work in the best interest of the public. This cannot possibly be done in mere days as RFK has done. To say it plainly, RFK is setting up a committee of puppets who will make recommendations based on their ideology rather than on sound science.
COVID largo
Research studying the long-term effects of COVID on various groups of people, both children and adults, continues to be imperative. The RECOVER-Pediatrics cohort study published results indicating that infants and toddlers ages 0-2 were more likely to experience prolonged trouble sleeping, fussiness, poor appetite, stuffy nose, and cough after a COVID infection. Pre-school age children were more likely to experience dry cough and low energy during the day.
A recent meta-analysis published in the journal of medical virology reported that around 20% of people continue to experience Long COVID symptoms three years after their infection.
Tomar acción
As mentioned before, take a moment to voice your support for universal COVID vaccines. Make a public comment by June 20th to have it considered at the upcoming ACIP meeting! Our template makes it easy to submit a public comment over the next 4 days.
Support NIH funding! Join and share the Bethesda Declaration put together for Stand Up For Science. Add your signature on their letter here y learn more about it here.
As this administration cuts grant after grant and committee after committee – all whilst overseeing human rights abuses at home and supporting a genocide abroad – they force us to expand our advocacy efforts. We know that eventually, we will need to rebuild the infrastructure they’ve dismantled. While we do that, we also need to document our rejection of their austerity measures. If you haven’t yet, please check out our statement demanding the restoration of the HICPAC committee and NIOSH. You can find action items within it.
Building the infrastructure we need means being in community with one another. Find ways to do this locally: form a tenants association, organize your coworkers, or join debt strikes and debt collectives. Join or start a mutual aid group, mask bloc, or community garden, and canvass your neighborhoods to find out what needs people have and how to address them. Be sure to wear and share high quality masks, such as N95s, KN95s, and KF94s, to keep everyone safer while doing it.
Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 06/13/2025. 2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more at https://peoplescdc.org. 3) Subscribe to our newsletter: People’s CDC | Substack.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
El CDC del pueblo es una coalición de profesionales de la salud pública, científicos, trabajadores de la salud, educadores, defensores y personas de todos los ámbitos de la vida que trabajan para reducir los impactos dañinos de COVID-19.
Brindamos orientación y recomendaciones de políticas a los gobiernos y al público sobre COVID-19, difundiendo actualizaciones basadas en evidencia que se basan en la equidad, los principios de salud pública y la literatura científica más reciente.
Working alongside community organizations, we are building collective power and centering equity as we work together to end the pandemic. The People’s CDC is volunteer-run and independent of partisan political and corporate interests and includes anonymous local health department and other government employees. The People’s CDC is completely volunteer run with infrastructure support being provided by the People’s Science Network.
Though the People’s CDC was supported initially through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, that grant has long expired. We no longer pursue or accept grant funding. We are now entirely funded by people who donate to us. Most of these donations make their way to us through our Substack platform (which anyone can access for free!) or through purchases of People’s CDC swag. Our website now has a donate link for anonymous donations.
The content that we put out is entirely created by volunteers who receive no funding for their work. We pay one person for their labor–a digital organizer. They help us update and maintain our website, make sure we all know what meetings are happening and when, post our content on social media, and monitor our email. They also act as the point person between our organization and our fiscal sponsor, People’s Science Network.
We also pay for a People’s CDC T-shirt for any volunteer who wants one.