Combatting COVID-19

Omicron cases are falling, while ‘stealth’ variant is on the rise 

Cases of the omicron variant have fallen in the United States, but BA.2, known as “stealth omicron,” is just getting started. The subvariant has been found in at least 74 countries and 47 states.

Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen with UF Health Jacksonville said a surge is inevitable.

“Any suggestion whatsoever that we are out of the woods so to speak with respect to SARS and COVID-19 disease is just wrong,” said Dr. Goldhagen.

Studies show the new variant can cause serious illnesses like the delta variant. Immunity from vaccines alone isn’t enough. Vaccines along with a booster shot restores protection making sickness after infection about 74% less likely, doctors say.

Goldhagen said Vaccination with booster does protect against this new variant or subvariant against omicron.

A fourth Covid-19 shot might be recommended this fall, as officials ‘continually’ look at emerging data 

As the world approaches the second anniversary of the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization, on March 11, more nations are rolling out — or are discussing the possibility of — fourth doses of coronavirus vaccine for their most vulnerable. According to CNN, leading public health officials in the United States said they are “very carefully” monitoring if or when fourth doses might be needed.

Israel was the first nation to roll out fourth doses, announcing in December that adults 60 and older, medical workers and people with suppressed immune systems were eligible to receive the extra shot if at least four months have passed since their third dose.

Nearly half of state mask mandates have ended in the past 3 weeks 

Five states have dropped or altered business mask mandates since late January as declining Covid-19 cases have shifted political winds.

These states include California, Delaware, Nevada, New York and Rhode Island. All but Nevada still require masks in schools, according to an NBC News survey of state mask requirements.

The changes come despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continuing recommendation that masks be used indoors in most of the country.

 On January 28^th , 11 states required masks in some or all settings, but as of Tuesday seven, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., still have restrictions in place. Of these states, several have announced plans to lift them by the end of February or beginning of March.

Vaccine requirements are being lifted across America as Covid cases diminish 

From March 1^st , 2022 Seattle, the biggest city in the state where the first U.S. case of Covid-19 was confirmed more than two years ago, will lift its proof-of-vaccination requirement for restaurants, theaters and gyms.

City and county employees who have been working from home for two long years will soon also start getting called back into the office.

From coast to coast, other major cities, including Philadelphia, the Twin Cities and the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., are doing the same as the rate of Covid-19 infections plummets. According to NBC News, the average number of new daily cases has dropped by 67 percent in the last two weeks.