CDC simplifies federal COVID-19 guidance, only 18% of people in WA up to date on vaccines – KOMO News

CDC simplifies federal COVID-19 guidance, only 18% of people in WA up to date on vaccines

by Lee Stoll, KOMO News Reporter

Moving day, Sept. 21, 2020: Laboratory technical assistant Elena Boucher unpacks equipment in the extraction room. (OHSU)

WASHINGTON

As we march out of winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is relaxing its federal COVID-19 recommendations.

"We saw from the beginning of this season, for those who went to the hospital, 95% of them didn't have an updated vaccine," said CDC Director, Dr. Mandy Cohen.

According to the latest information from the Washington Department of Health, more than 1.575 million COVID-19 vaccines have been given over the last eight months,

Only 18.1% of people in our state are fully up to date with all the CDC-recommended doses.

"We have those tools to protect each other, we just need to use it," said Dr. Cohen.

The good news is we are now seeing week-to-week double-digit drops in the number of people ending up in the ER for COVID-19, flu, and RSV.

The number of people hospitalized this season for COVID is lower than in the last two years, but hospital stays for flu and RSV are higher.

"Remember though, COVID isn't a strictly seasonal disease like flu is. Flu has a particular defined season over the winter. Now COVID is worse during the winter, but we can still see COVID through these next months and into the summer," said Dr. Cohen.

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CDC simplifies federal COVID-19 guidance, only 18% of people in WA up to date on vaccines - KOMO News