Winter Virus Season: Concerns Rise Despite Initial Mildness
- * COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness: The latest COVID-19 vaccines are 76% effective at preventing symptoms severe enough to require a hospital ER or urgent care visit.
Here’s a summary of the key information from the provided text:
* COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness: The latest COVID-19 vaccines are 76% effective at preventing symptoms severe enough to require a hospital ER or urgent care visit. This effectiveness drops to 56% for children aged 5-17.
* Safety & Previous Findings: Other studies confirm the safety and effectiveness of the shots for children.
* Current Vaccination rates: Uptake of the current COVID-19 vaccine is low – only 7% of children and 15% of adults have received it this season.
* Changing Recommendations: The CDC stopped recommending COVID-19 shots for everyone in October, leaving the decision to individuals and their doctors. This decision was met with criticism from some medical groups who point to the over 1.2 million US deaths where COVID-19 was a factor.
* Political Context: The report comes after the Trump governance stopped recommending the vaccine for healthy children, and amidst efforts by anti-vaccine advocates to revoke vaccine licenses.