As you may have already guessed from the coughs and runny noses around you, many people are sick right now, many of them with COVID. According to the latest data from the CDC, Wastewater Every part of the country is at the “very high” level, and national levels have remained at the “very high” level for about a month. Test positivity rates are higher than during the recent winter surge. Many people who think they may have COVID and are curious or sick enough to get tested actually turn out to have COVID, as recorded in official statistics.
COVID-19 is more deadly than influenza, can cause debilitating symptoms that can last for years, and sends many more people to the hospital than RSV. But as of March, the CDC was making the distinction between these respiratory viruses, and other viruses, saying: advice Americans are being warned: If you are sick, stay home until your fever has subsided and your symptoms have improved for 24 hours, the agency advises. These days, few public places are specifically designed to screen COVID-infected people. Many sick people are Not a nuisance Percentage of people getting tested for the virus at home: Compared to 2022 and even 2023 figures, sales of at-home COVID tests have plummeted.
At this point, why bother finding out what disease you have? andOne answer is treatment: To get a prescription for the antiviral drug paxlovir, you need to confirm your COVID infection within five days of onset. But there are other reasons why every American should get tested now if they feel unwell: The current COVID wave is moving into vaccination season, and knowing when your most recent infection was is crucial for planning for vaccinations in the fall.
Immunology is an uncertain science, so the timing of vaccination is not one-size-fits-all. But as I reported in 2022, immunologists generally recommend at least three months between vaccinations to maximize the vaccine’s effectiveness, and at least three months between the onset of COVID itself. (CDC advice (You’ll need to wait three months after getting the vaccine, or four months after if you’re eligible to get vaccinated more than once a year.) If your immune system is quiescent long enough after a vaccination or infection, it can generate cells that provide lasting protection against disease. Getting vaccinated too soon after infection could interrupt that process, compromising your long-term protection. At least in that scenario, the vaccine “probably wouldn’t be very effective,” says immunologist Jenna Guthmiller of the University of Colorado, because your immune system has already been activated by the infection.
Knowing if you have COVID Right now It’s worth it. Pharmacies across the country are currently distributing the Moderna and Pfizer 2024 vaccines. Last week, Novavax received FDA authorization and should be available soon. But if you’ve just had COVID, now is the time. do not If you want to get vaccinated (there are exceptions to the three-month rule: for immunocompromised people, older people, and others at high risk, the short-term protection against infection that the vaccination provides may outweigh any drawbacks). do Whether you want to get vaccinated or not is another matter. Ideally, you’ll want to get vaccinated two weeks before you’re most likely to become infected, such as during large gatherings over the holidays or if there’s a local surge in the virus. For example, if you were infected with COVID today, you might want to wait until as close to Thanksgiving as possible before getting your latest vaccination.
Whether you caught COVID-19 this month or over the summer, the genetic makeup of the virus that infected you is almost certainly not identical to the one in the latest vaccines. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are based on a variant called KP.2 that became dominant in May. Novavax’s vaccine is based on JN.1, which swept across the pandemic in January. New variants They’re much more common now, like KP.3 and LB.1. But if you wait long enough past an August or September infection, even a somewhat outdated vaccine can boost your immunity. “If the vaccine is X, and you get infected with Y, the vaccine for X will boost your immunity to cross-react with Y,” Guthmiller told me. “And it still keeps you in good shape to fight Y, and then in good shape to fight Z”—whatever variant comes next.
One reason the infection and vaccination timelines are colliding is because SARS-CoV-2 simply doesn’t follow the usual winter schedule for influenza, even as the U.S. tries to address COVID with its influenza-preparedness toolkit. “Influenza is, for the most part, very predictable,” Guthmiller said. COVID has a rough seasonal pattern, but rather than a single winter wave, it has so far fallen into two annual surges, whose timing, magnitude and exact trends remain unpredictable. For example, this summer’s wave was much larger than last year’s and started earlier. Still, the CDC is recommending most Americans get a COVID vaccination once a year, right around the time many people have been infected recently. (People over 65 and those with certain immune disorders are allowed to get multiple doses per year.)
While all this is happening, Americans are getting less and less information about how widely COVID is spreading in their communities. The CDC stopped reporting daily numbers of new COVID cases in May 2023. In April of this year, it stopped requiring hospitals to submit COVID data to the National Disease Surveillance Network. (Last month, the agency said it was Announced (It was announced that starting November 1, hospitals will have to report for COVID, RSV, and influenza.) Still, evidence suggests that any respiratory illness you may have right now is likely caused by SARS-CoV-2. Testing is the best way to know with reasonable certainty if it is SARS-CoV-2. But unless you’ve stockpiled test kits, you’ll have to buy one yourself. A program that sent a small number of free kits to every American household in 2022 and 2023 is Pause In March, the federal government order Free COVID tests are available again until the end of the month.
