Across the United States, thousands of people with COVID-19 are being hospitalized each week and the number is steadily trending up — a sure sign that overall cases have also been on the rise.
We do know the worst of the pandemic is largely behind us. While the virus can, and does, still spread far and wide, its transmission isn’t the overwhelming crush that characterized the pandemic’s first years.
Amid a backdrop of ever-evolving variants — including a new version of omicron designated BA.2.86 that is under close watch from global and U.S. health agencies — most infections are now less deadly than the pandemic’s early days. Data from blood banks show that as of September 2022, around 96 percent of people in the United States had been vaccinated, infected with the virus or both, which can help reduce the severity of future infections. And, a new booster shot — designed to target relatives of a viral lineage dubbed XBB — should be available at the end of September (SN: 1/13/23).
Even with those rays of hope, our future with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, is unclear. The virus is not going anywhere; new variants will continue to appear with varying degrees of infectiousness and severity. How many people might fall ill or die on average each year? We don’t know.
2023-08-21 06:00:00
Source from www.sciencenews.org
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