Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

COVID-19 cases are climbing again in Maine, and the number of hospitalizations has reached its highest point since April. Wastewater surveillance is also showing very high levels of the virus circulating throughout New England.

COVID is still ruining holidays and keeping people out of work, said Dr. Laura Blaisdell, president of the Maine chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is still a severe disease.

Blaisdell said that with more people indoors during the winter and large groups gathering for holiday celebrations, the coronavirus has a greater opportunity to spread.

Maine recorded 96 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 on Dec. 21, the latest day data was available. Thats the highest number of infected patients in Maine hospitals since April 4, when there were 121. Hospitalizations have generally been increasing in recent months, from about 40-50 in September and October to 70s-90ssince November.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is projecting stable numbers of COVID hospitalizations in Maine and nationally through mid-January.

Hospitalizations are still far from the peak of the omicron variant wave 436 patients were hospitalized with COVID in Maine on Jan. 13, 2022. Official case counts are no longer considered a reliable measure of the prevalence of the virus, in part because of large numbers of unreported positive home-test results.

But scientists consider wastewater surveillance an accurate measure of virus levels. Wastewater surveillance is showing very high levels of COVID-19 in the New England states, New Jersey and midwestern states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to the U.S. CDC.

In Maine, elevated levels of coronavirus are being reported in many parts of the state, including Cumberland, York and Penobscot counties.

On Christmas Day, the Yarmouth wastewater surveillance system raised its COVID-O-Meter from moderate to high, and the district encouraged people to get vaccinated and to consider limiting large gatherings, especially those who are immune compromised.

The current variant circulating, JN.1, is a subvariant of omicron. While it is highly contagious, it doesnt appear to be any more severe than earlier omicron subvariants, scientists have said.

Blaisdell said she is strongly encouraging everyone who has not yet received an updated COVID-19 vaccine to get one. The U.S. CDC recommends that people get their flu and COVID-19 shots during the same appointment. The updated COVID-19 vaccine was approved by federal regulators in mid-September, and after initial problems with supplies, became widely available in October.

Blaisdell said its difficult to persuade patients to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine, and they are generally more comfortable with getting an annual flu shot. While Maine no longer tracks COVID-19 vaccinations, less than 20% of adults in the U.S. have been getting the updated vaccine, while typically about 40% of adults get a flu shot every year.

Blaisdell said that while vaccination and natural immunity are more widespread than in the early days of the pandemic, which reduces the impact of the virus on the general population, COVID-19 is still a significant and potentially lethal disease.

People should think about protecting themselves, and the vaccine is effective at doing so, Blaisdell said.

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COVID-19 hospitalizations again climbing in Maine - Press Herald

NEW YORK (AP) Look for flu and COVID-19 infections to ramp up in the coming weeks, U.S. health officials say, with increases fueled by holiday gatherings, too many unvaccinated people and a new version of the coronavirus that may be spreading more easily.

High levels of flu-like illnesses were reported last week in 17 states up from 14 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Folks are traveling a lot more this season. They want to see their families, said the CDCs Dr. Manisha Patel. And all of that sort of adds to the mix in the spread of viruses.

Health officials are keeping an eye on a version of the ever-evolving coronavirus, known as JN.1. The omicron variant was first detected in the U.S. in September and now accounts for an estimated 20% of cases. The CDC expects it to reach 50% in the next two weeks, Patel said.

It may spread easier or be better at evading our immune systems, but there is no evidence that the strain causes more severe disease than other recent variants, health officials say. And current evidence indicates vaccines and antiviral medications work against it.

As for flu, early signs suggest current vaccines are well-matched to the strain that is causing the most illnesses, and that strain usually doesnt cause as many deaths and hospitalizations as some other versions.

But the bad news is vaccinations are down this year, officials say. About 42% of U.S. adults had gotten flu shots by the first week of December, down from about 45% at the same time last year, according to the CDC.

Americans have also been slow to get other vaccinations. Only about 18% have gotten an updated COVID-19 shot that became available in September. At nursing homes, about a third of residents are up to date with COVID-19 vaccines.

And only 17% of adults 60 and older had received new shots against another respiratory virus. RSV, respiratory syncytial virus, is a common cause of mild coldlike symptoms but it can be dangerous for infants and older people.

The CDC last week took the unusual step of sending a health alert to U.S. doctors urging them to immunize their patients against the trio of viruses.

The Carolinas are currently seeing the heaviest traffic for respiratory infections in emergency rooms, according to CDC data posted this week.

Its not as dire as some past winters, but some patients are still waiting days to get a hospital bed, noted Dr. Scott Curry, an infectious diseases specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Weve barely been cold in South Carolina, and flu tends to hit us very hard when people actually get some cold weather to deal with, he said. We could get worse, very easily, in the next four to eight weeks.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Flu and COVID infections are rising and could get worse over the holidays, CDC says - The Associated Press

By Barrington Salmon and Hazel Trice Edney, The Seattle Medium

When the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the United States in March 2020, it cut a wide and deadly swathe across the country. It overwhelmed medical infrastructures in major cities as well as towns, hamlets and villages in between. And as usual people of color were the hardest hit.

In that regard, King County, Washington (Seattle) became nationally known as Americas epicenter of COVID-19, largely because it had the first known COVID-19 case and the first large outbreak, prompting King County officials to lead the way in calls that resulted in national restrictions to help contain the virus. Also, observing the rapid spread and the racial disparities in sickness and death, King Countys public health officials agreed with outcries from the community and declared that Racism is a Public Health Crisis, an initiative by several other cities across the nation that was declared and started in King County in June 2020.

In 2022, the Racism is A Public Health Crisis Initiative will embark on a community-led process, called the Gathering Collaborative, to equitably allocate $25 million to start to undo the harms of racism compounded by the pandemic, influence the countys 2023-24 budget cycle to prioritize and reflect anti-racism and pro-equity investments, and form a multi-generational vision for King County to become an anti-racist government, KingCounty.gov explained on its Equity, Racial and Social Justice page.

Three years after the COVID pandemic started, a King County Recovery Plan posted on KingCounty.gov, reports that by the end of 2022, the county had received more than $2 billion in federal funding in response to the pandemic of which $437 million were flexible funds to help with public health, economic recovery, community resiliency, homelessness and housing, jobs, and county operations.

King County has received over $2 billion in federal funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding streams include FEMA emergency funding and several waves of funding provided through federal legislation. The county has utilized the funding based on the federal program requirements and according to local priorities, the Recovery Plan states.

RELATED ARTICLE: With A New Covid-19 Variant On The Rise, Heres How To Stay Safe This Holiday Season

In an emailed response to a reporters questions, Public Health Seattle King County spokeswoman Kate Cole stated that, so far, nearing the final week of 2023, nearly $364 million 18 percent of that $2 billion had been spent by Public Health Seattle King County. Public Health Seattle King County is described on KingCounty.gov as the department that works to protect and improve the health and well-being of all people in King County.

Weve spent nearly $364M responding to the COVID pandemic from 2020 to-date, with most of this funding coming from federal COVID assistance funds, Cole wrote in an email. Among the variety of funding pots was the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that was divided between states around the nation.

In deciding how to allocate and spend this money (as well as other department funds, including those not for COVID) weve worked to reduce health disparities by race and place, Cole wrote in the email. So, for example, when deciding where to cite COVID vaccine and testing sites, we intentionally chose parts of the county with the largest BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, People of Color] populations, highest rates of COVID, lowest vaccination rates, and lowest concentrations of vaccination providers.

To execute the Countys plan, the Office of Equity and Social Justice (OESJ) worked closely with the Budget Office and has launched an array of funding and contracting opportunities available to community. Officials said the direct investments came from federal money provided by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CLFR) which is part of the AmericanRescue Plan.

RELATED ARTICLE: CDC Issues Stark Warning Amidst Rising Tide of COVID And Flu Cases

According to King County Executive Dow Constantine, the goal was to tie grants with priorities identified by various communities with the goal being an equitable recovery and strategically position these resources to meet the urgent needs of our communities.

Some of the programs are the Digital Equity Grants which allocated $2 million in grants to 29 local groups and organizations focused on promoting digital equity and provide services to communities that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and which also have traditionally faced racial and other barriers which has blocked their access to digital services such as internet connectivity, digital literacy and tech devices.

King County directed $1.75 million in its Strategic Communications Campaign to equitably increase awareness of and access to its Revive and Thrive programs, grants, contracts, and support services available. The county hired community-based media outlets and organizations to conceptualize, plan and implement a mix-media campaign intended to reach communities most impacted by COVID-19 and racism.

The following is a breakdown, listed in the King County Recovery Plan, telling how King County used much of the COVID money:

Homelessness response $97 million forprograms including hotel/motel leases, COVID-19 shelter de-intensification, permanent supportive housing, behavioral health services, homeless outreach and shelter procurement, enhanced shelter, and sanitation.

Public health response $68 million for equity in vaccinations; tests; testing sites; testing site personnel; mask access;

Equitable economic recovery $60 millionfor providing support to businesses, the creative economy, and the tourism sector, as well as workforce development programs.

Community resiliency $56 million for community resources; especially for communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities, people experiencing homelessness, and refugee/immigrant communities.

Jobs and Housing $33 million

County operations $154 million

Despite the multi-millions of dollars that have already been spent, a 23-year King County employee who helped to pioneer the countys long-time struggle to bring racial health equity, now says the COVID funds are on course for possible budget cuts with hopes that the scalpel will cut only programs that hurt rather than help the fight against racism as a public health crisis.

We are faced with some budget challenges right now as we speak and having to also make some cuts, said Matas Valenzuela, Phd, director of the Office of Equity and Community Partnerships, Public Health Seattle & King County, in an interview. So, we are not going to have that same level.

With his longevity in dealing with issues of racism long before COVID, Valenzuela explained the vision and concept behind racism as a public health crisis as being like a chain affect.

We see it in the data, we see it in the numbers, which communities get most impacted in terms of where we see the deaths, where we see the hospitalizations, where we see the cases, he said. So, why are certain people being hospitalized at greater levels?

He said the answer is sometimes underlying conditions and chronic diseases like diabetes or heart disease. But drivers for those diseases are often because many people live in food deserts, where they dont have healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. The lack of healthy meals increases their chances of having chronic diseases.

We also know the toxic impact that racism has on peoples health. It produces the constant stress; it produces cortisol in the body that has a negative impact in our system and is more likely to lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, Valenzuela said.

And then there are the things that happen in societies that dictate that someone who lives in this community, in this zip code which is heavily Black and brown is going to have more disease, is going to die earlier; and the things, including having less access to education; having less access to good-paying jobs. All those things contribute to having worse outcomes,he said.

Valenzuela says its already a real challenge in King Countys public health system and nationally to administer public health on the level that is necessary.

Its kind of boom and bust for us right now when there are periods when we can have resources to really respond to an issue and then we go to periods in which we dont have the level of resources to respond to something like COVID.

He said anti-racism will be the overarching driver for his departments next strategic plan. He listed key issues such as climate and health; homelessness; over-dose prevention; and gun violence as being among the priorities. He said the plan will aim to make sure were using a racial equity approach as we do all of that work even if we may be doing it with limited funds.

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King County, The 'Initial Epicenter Of COVID-19' In The U. S., Spent Money To Ensure Equitable Outcomes For Diverse ... - Seattle Medium

Reports of respiratory illness have now reached "high" or "very high" levels across at least 16 state or big city health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, as trends of COVID-19 and influenza have accelerated in many parts of the country. And while a fast-growing new COVID variant called JN.1 is estimated to be driving a large share of the current winter wave of infections, officials say there have so far been no signs of new or unusual symptoms caused by the virus.

Here's the latest about what we know about this winter's wave so far.

click to expand

Experts caution that teasing out subtle changes to the symptoms being caused by different COVID-19 variants has proven tricky, given the now wide-ranging variety of antibodies that people have from either vaccinations, prior infections by different variants, or both.

"The types of symptoms and how severe they are usually depend more on a person's immunity and overall health rather than which variant causes the infection," the CDC said in a report on Dec. 8 discussing the JN.1 strain.

New survey data from the United Kingdom's health authorities, where COVID-19 and influenza trends are also on the rise, suggest common symptoms being reported from this winter's onslaught of respiratory infections, among all surveyed residents, include:

How those symptoms differ depending on whether people are specifically testing positive for COVID-19 versus other infections is not yet clear, though the U.K. Health Security Agency's Jonathon Mellor said Thursday that those more detailed analyses could come once their sample size grows.

Research through last winter, co-authored by health authorities in the U.K., found symptoms were similar for COVID-19 and other germs that often drive respiratory illnesses during the winter.

"Cough, sore throat, sneezing, fatigue and headache were all among the most commonly reported symptoms for each of the three infections, suggesting that discriminating between SARS-CoV-2, influenza and RSV based on symptoms alone may prove challenging," they wrote in a preprint, that has not been peer-reviewed, released in October.

That is also in line with other research from previous waves of COVID-19.

Research through 2022 from the CDC's nationwide household transmission study, released as a preprint in May, which has also not yet been peer-reviewed, found commonly reported symptoms among household contacts infected by the BA.5 variant were:

Prevalence of most COVID symptoms were not far off from those reported before even the Delta variant emerged in late 2020.

The exception to this is reports of change in taste or smell, which declined from 42% early in the pandemic. Unlike many other COVID-19 symptoms, researchers around the world have confirmed a steep decline in reports of loss of taste or smell a symptom that was much more common when COVID first swept the globe.

Other subtle changes that scientists have tracked to the virus is a gradual decline in the "incubation period," or length of time that it takes for people to get sick after being exposed to COVID-19.

Research published by the CDC from authors in Japan and Singapore earlier this year found this time may have shortened to as little as 2 to 3 days on average.

Data suggests long COVID rates may have declined since the beginning of the pandemic. Exact definitions vary, but the CDC generally considers long or "post-COVID" conditions to be symptoms that persist or emerge at least four weeks after otherwise recovering from the virus.

"Approximately 1 in 10 adults with previous COVID-19 were experiencing long COVID at the end of the study period, highlighting the ongoing importance of COVID-19 prevention actions, including vaccination," a CDC study of Census Bureau survey data said in August, noting that its prevalence among people who said they previously caught COVID-19 had not changed since January 2023.

In a separate CDC analysis of the same ongoing survey, 4.6% of American adults in October reported having limitations on their activities from long-term symptoms of the virus, down from 5.7% at the same time in 2022.

Another study, published in the medical journal JAMA in May, identified 12 symptoms most commonly associated with long COVID:

Other symptoms were reported by smaller numbers of patients, with the study noting 37 symptoms that were more common in those who'd had a COVID infection, after 6 months, than in people who hadn't been infected.

Guidance from U.S. authorities ontestingandtreatmentremain largely unchanged for this winter.

For most COVID-19 home tests, like the freerapid antigen kits that all American households can request from the Biden administration this winter, the FDA's guidance remains unchanged since last winter.

If you at first get a negative result from the antigen test, but have symptoms or think you were exposed to the virus, the FDA says you should swab your nose "again 48 hours after."

That was the result of studies the FDA and National Institutes of Health backed earlier during the pandemic which found the likelihood of false negative results from antigen tests was reduced after repeated testing.

These recommendations only apply to antigen tests, which the CDC says "are generally less sensitive" to picking up infections.

Home molecular tests for COVID-19, like the Lucira kit from Pfizer that in February was first greenlighted by the FDA to test for influenza as well, have yielded more accurate results. Among positive COVID-19 samples, 88.3% were correctly spotted in studies of the test.

Another method some have floated to try to improve the accuracy of COVID testing has been to swab inside the throat or mouth as well, similar to what is done for some tests in many countries overseas. So far, that approach hasn't been authorized by the FDA for use in home tests, in part over safety concerns, though the agency now says it is "open" to considering it.

"Although there are not currently any COVID-19 tests authorized by the FDA for self-collection of throat swabs, the FDA is open to reviewing tests with novel sample types," James McKinney, an FDA spokesperson, told CBS News in a statement.

A study published this month from Denmark found combining self-collected nose and throat swabs upped the sensitivity of testing by 15.5 percentage points.

"As with all devices, the FDA would evaluate them for both safety and effectiveness, including considering any possible safety concerns regarding self-collection of throat swabs. Self-collection of throat swabs is more complicated than nasal swabs and if done incorrectly, can potentially cause harm to the patient," said McKinney.

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

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Are COVID-19 symptoms still the same? What to know about this winter's JN.1 wave - CBS News

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Health district releases COVID-19 pandemic report, identifies weaknesses and strengths of local response - wenatcheeworld.com

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An increase in COVID-19 and flu infection rates could get worse in coming weeks, fueled by holiday gatherings and low vaccination rates. CBS News' Lilia Luciano shares what you can do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

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Flu and COVID-19 infections rise ahead of holiday gatherings - CBS News

During the pandemic years, Americans trust in scientists fell, according to a recently released Pew poll.

In 2019, only 13% of Americans were distrustful enough to say they werent confident in scientists to act in the publics best interest. Now that figure is 27% despite recent triumphs in astronomy, cancer research, genetics and other fields.

Its reasonable to assume the problem stems from COVID-era public health missteps. Some public health agencies took years to admit what had quickly become obvious: that the virus was airborne. Others suggested precautions, closing playgrounds and beaches, where any benefit would have been minimal. Some promoted policies, like sustained social isolation, that were hard to implement and endure even for the prominent epidemiologists promoting them.

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It's past time scientists admitted their COVID-19 mistakes - The Japan Times

House Republicans have made inroads into unraveling some of the mysteries surrounding the origins of COVID-19 three years after the pandemic swept the world.

The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic was tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19 in early January 2023 under the leadership of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Since then, Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) has overseen several developments in not only identifying the source of the pandemic but also strengthening mechanisms to prevent emergencies of a similar magnitude.

JAMES BIDEN RECEIVED $600,000 AFTER PROMISING POLITICAL FAVORS, WITNESS TESTIFIES

Here are the most important moments from the COVID-19 origins investigation from 2023.

Wuhan lab report

In March 2023, Congress unanimously passed the COVID-19 Origin Act, which gave the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 90 days to declassify and release intelligence on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the laboratory postulated to be the source of SARS-CoV-2.

Three days after the deadline set by Congress, the report was published, confirming that the intelligence community is divided on the precise origin of SARS-CoV-2.

The National Intelligence Council, along with four other agencies in the intelligence community, found that the initial infection was most likely caused by natural exposure to an infected animal. However, the Department of Energy and the FBI assessed that "a laboratory-associated incident was the most likely cause of the first human infection with SARS-CoV-2," according to the report.

Most of the intelligence agencies are in agreement that the virus was not laboratory-adapted, and all agree that the virus was not developed as a bioweapon.

Suppression of the lab leak theory

The select subcommittee spent significant time this year investigating the writing and publication of the scientific paper, "The proximal origins of SARS-CoV-2," published in Nature Medicine in March 2020, that discredited the lab leak theory.

In June, the select subcommittee subpoenaed the paper's authors and produced a detailed report outlining the involvement of the National Institutes of Health in the initial research stages of the paper's publication.

Communications between the paper's authors in late January 2020 indicated they initially believed the virus came from a lab accident, but the authors quickly changed their perspective following a phone call with top NIH and World Health Organization officials on Feb. 1, 2020.

On the call was then-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, then-NIH Director Francis Collins, then-NIH Ethics Director Lawrence Tabak, and World Health Organization Chief Medical Scientist Jeremy Farrar, then the director of the Wellcome Trust.

Kristian Andersen and Robert Garry, two of the authors of the paper, testified before the select subcommittee in July and denied any conspiracy to distort evidence to discredit the lab leak theory.

Following this testimony, the Department of Health and Human Services has persistently stonewalled congressional investigations into the origins of the virus, with staff claiming that the HHS does not have the manpower or technical resources to comply with information requests.

Bipartisan calls for strengthening biosafety

Strengthening domestic and international biosafety and biosecurity standards has emerged as a bipartisan priority from the origins investigation.

The theme began to take center stage in mid-October, when the subcommittee held a hearing to discuss strategies to increase oversight of dangerous pathogen research that has been an essential tool in predicting viral outbreaks and preventing pandemics.

Although members have floated possible reforms to domestic bioresearch safety, including stricter regulations of funding, reforms to the WHO's ability to enforce existing international rules have been a recent focus of the subcommittee.

Several witnesses in subcommittee hearings since October have testified that the WHO does not have enough enforcement power to hold nations accountable for violating agreed-to standards limiting the conduct of hazardous pathogen research.

Top priorities for 2024

Wenstrup announced on Nov. 9 that he would not be seeking reelection after serving 11 years in Congress, leaving the Republican leadership of the committee open with the start of the 119th Congress in 2025. But until then, the panel has several important tasks.

Fauci willingly agreed to transcribed interviews for Jan. 8 and 9, detailing his role in determining the origins of the virus and in advising Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Dates for a public hearing before the whole committee have not been made available.

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Wenstrup also intends to meet with WHO officials, including Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with the hopes of discussing ways to prevent the public health agency from being used as a geopolitical pawn by the Chinese Communist Party.

In the spring of 2024, the WHO will release to member states the final draft of the Pandemic Accords, an international agreement governing pandemic preparedness in the event of future global public health crises.

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What the House investigation into COVID-19 origins has turned up after one year - Washington Examiner

Seventeen states are seeing "high" or "very high" levels of respiratory illness activity as COVID-19 and flu hospitalizations increase across the U.S., new federal data shows.

Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to 23,432 for the week ending Dec. 9, up from 22,730 the previous week, according to data updated Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is the fifth consecutive week of increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations, reaching levels not seen since the end of February. However, they remain lower than rates seen at the same time last year.

COVID-19 hospitalization rates are still elevated for the oldest and youngest Americans. Those aged 65 and older have the highest weekly rate at 13.9 per 100,000 followed by those aged 50 to 64 at 3.1 per 100,000 and those aged 0 to 4 at 2.7 per 100,000.

Hospital admission levels are increasing with the mid-Atlantic and Midwest seeing a rising number of counties meeting the "moderate" level, between 10 and 19.9 hospitalizations per 100,000. Nearly 25% of all counties in the U.S. are at this level, CDC data shows.

Flu activity is also increasing with the Southeast, South-Central and Western U.S. reporting the highest levels, according to CDC data.

Flu hospitalizations are continuing to rise with the number of new admissions reaching 7,090 for the week ending Dec. 9, up from 5,816 admitted the week ending Dec. 2, data shows.

In the past month, for all age groups, hospitalizations have increased 200% for COVID-19 and 51% for flu.

Meanwhile, RSV weekly hospitalization rates have slightly declined from 3.2 per 100,000 for the week ending Dec. 2 to 2.3 per 100,000 the week ending Dec. 9. RSV hospitalizations remain elevated among young children under age 4 and are increasing among older adults over age 65, but the U.S. may be turning a corner.

"We think we are just at the peak [of RSV], which means we're seeing the most number of cases we expect in the season, may start to see some declines already in some of our southern and southeast states, but pretty active across the country," Dr. Mandy Cohen, CDC director, told ABC News.

Some hospitals, particularly pediatric hospitals, have reported that they are at capacity. Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Mechanicsville, Pennsylvania, told local ABC News affiliate WNEP that it's run out of beds due to an influx of children with respiratory viruses including COVID-19, flu and RSV in addition to other illnesses and surgeries.

Geisinger Health System, which manages the hospital, told the station that about 15% of pediatric beds at nearby facilities remained unavailable for use after the pandemic, and is contributing to the flood of patients.

"There's a lot of other illnesses that at times require a short hospitalization, but unfortunately, other times require a longer hospitalization, and that adds to the capacity crunch," Dr. Frank Maffei, chair of pediatrics for the Geisinger Women and Children's Institute, told WNEP.

Cohen told ABC News that there are isolated hospitals experiencing strain but, for the most part, pediatric hospitals have told the CDC they've been able to manage treating patients.

On Thursday, the CDC sent an alert to healthcare providers, encouraging them to administer COVID-19, flu and RSV vaccines as soon as possible.

Low vaccination rates, along with the spread of respiratory illnesses "could lead to more severe disease and increased healthcare capacity strain in the coming weeks," according to the federal agency.

As of Friday, 18.3% of U.S. adults have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine and 42.2% have received the flu vaccine.

"We have the tools to protect folks and we don't think that enough of our folks across the country have gotten vaccinated," Cohen said. "So, we wanted to send out that alert to our medical community to make sure they knew it wasn't too late to vaccinate, and that there are specific things that they could do."

The alert also encouraged doctors to recommend antiviral medications for COVID-19 and flu patients who qualify.

Experts have previously told ABC News that Paxlovid, a COVID-19 treatment from Pfizer for those at high risk of severe illness, has been a relatively underused treatment because some may feel they don't need the drug or doctors may feel hesitant to prescribe it due to concerns about how the medication interacts with other prescription drugs.

"As we see more cases and more folks getting sick over the next number of weeks, as we expect, we want to make sure we're reminding everyone about the treatment options that we have for COVID-19," Cohen said. "And for flu, reminding doctors to use those treatmentsSo we wanted to send that alert to make sure that it was top of mind and that folks are both vaccinating -- because it's not too late to vaccinate -- but also using treatment options for their patients."

Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer for Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News contributor, added that increases in respiratory viruses are often typical for the colder weather months and not cause for concern.

"These increases in respiratory illnesses are typical for this time of year, aligning with seasonal patterns," he said. "There is no need to panic, but it is important to stay vigilant and follow health guidelines including staying up to date with recommended vaccines."

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COVID-19 and flu levels continue to increase but CDC director believes US has hit peak of RSV - ABC News

Hospitals and emergency rooms could be forced to ration care by the end of this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday, saying recent trends in COVID-19 and influenza are now on track to again strain America's health care system. The new COVID variant JN.1 is making up an increasing share of cases, the CDC's tracking shows.

"COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly," the agency said in its weekly update. "Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas."

The CDC has been urging people to get vaccinated as the peak of this year's mix of three seasonal respiratory viruses influenza, COVID-19 and RSV is nearing.

In pediatric hospitals, the CDC says beds "are already nearly as full as they were this time last year" in some parts of the country. Data from emergency rooms published Wednesday tracked emergency room visits nearly doubling in school-age children last week.

The increase, driven largely by an acceleration in flu cases, follows weeks of largely plateauing emergency room figures nationwide ahead of Thanksgiving.

Similar to this time last year, influenza emergency room visits are now outpacing COVID-19 for the first time in months across most age groups. Only in seniors do rates of COVID-19 remain many times higher than influenza.

Nursing homes have seen a steep rise in reported COVID-19 across recent weeks. In the Midwestern region spanning Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, infections in nursing home residents have already topped rates seen at last year's peak.

A new COVID-19 variant called JN.1 has been driving a growing share of the latest wave of infections, officials estimate.

The JN.1 lineage a closely related descendant of the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant that scientists first warned about over the summer was estimated last week in the CDC's projections to make up as much as 29% of infections nationwide. That's up from 8.8% at the end of November.

Health officials have been closely tracking the acceleration of BA.2.86 and its descendants, like JN.1, around the world in recent months. More than 4 in 10 test results from the CDC's airport testing program for international travelers have turned up these strains.

A panel of experts convened by the World Health Organization concluded this month that JN.1's changes were not steep enough to warrant a new revision to this season's vaccines, but acknowledged early data suggesting these shots were less effective at neutralizing the strain.

"CDC projects that JN.1 will continue to increase as a proportion of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences. It is currently the fastest-growing variant in the United States," the CDC said last week.

"Right now, we do not know to what extent JN.1 may be contributing to these increases or possible increases through the rest of December like those seen in previous years," they wrote.

However, so far the CDC had said that so far JN.1's fast spread does not appear to be leading to any upticks in the severity posed by COVID-19.

As COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses have accelerated in recent weeks, health officials say they have also been closely tracking an unprecedented drop in vaccinations this season.

Data from insurance claims suggest flu vaccinations in adults are around 8 million doses behind vaccination levels seen last year. The CDC's survey data suggests flu shots in children are also down around 5 percentage points from the same time last year.

"Covering the missed volume is going to be very difficult or not possible," vaccine manufacturers concluded at a recent stakeholder meeting with the CDC, according to a readout from the National Adult and Influenza Immunization Summit.

Health officials have also been urging providers to redouble their efforts to buoy COVID-19 vaccinations this year, especially for those most at-risk of severe disease like seniors.

In nursing homes, just a third of residents and less than 1 in 10 staff are vaccinated with this season's COVID-19 shot.

"We aren't seeing the uptake in vaccines that we would like to see," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told doctors at an American Medical Association event Tuesday.

Cohen also cited survey data on uptake of the RSV vaccinations, which were greenlighted for the first time this year in older adults. Around 16% of adults ages 60 and older say they have gotten the shot.

"We acknowledge that is too low and it is one of the reasons we wanted to have this conversation," she said.

Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers the Biden administration's public health agencies, including the federal response to infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19.

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COVID and flu surge could strain hospitals as JN.1 variant grows, CDC warns - CBS News