Most early-childhood vaccinations require multiple doses, but about 1 in 6 toddlers — 17 percent — are not getting all of the needed doses, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.

Incomplete vaccination leaves children vulnerable to preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, hepatitis and more. Full vaccination, however, also protects others in their communities and is needed “to develop and maintain herd immunity at a population level,” the researchers wrote.

Their findings stem from analysis of vaccination data on 16,365 U.S. children, 19 to 35 months old — considered a nationally representative sample. The data was gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focusing on seven series of vaccines that require one to four doses and protect against multiple diseases.

Read more at The Washington Post.

Most Americans have had one or more shots of the flu and Covid vaccines. New this year are the first shots to protect older adults and infants from respiratory syncytial virus, a lesser-known threat whose toll in hospitalizations and deaths may rival that of flu.

Federal health officials are hoping that widespread adoption of these immunizations will head off another “tripledemic” of respiratory illnesses, like the one seen last winter. For people with insurance, all of the vaccines should be available for free.

Read more at The New York Times.

The first shot that protects all infants against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, won the backing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization among infants in the U.S. The shot, branded under the name Beyfortus, provides families with a simple option to protect their babies during the respiratory virus season.

The CDC’s panel of independent advisors unanimously recommended AstraZeneca and Sanofi’s shot, also called nirsevimab, after reviewing the data in an hourslong meeting Thursday afternoon.

Read more at CNBC.

Simon Matthews made three trips this spring to the emergency room of his local hospital in Eastbourne, on England’s southeast coast, before doctors managed to figure out what was making him so ill.

He had a fever of 104 Fahrenheit, uncommonly high for an adult. On his first foray to the hospital — in an ambulance — it was feared he had meningitis. Cleared of that, Matthews, 62, was sent home with a vague diagnosis; doctors believed he had an unidentified viral infection.

But in addition to the fever, Matthews had the beginnings of what quickly turned into an itchy, full-body red rash — a type that a few decades ago all parents dreaded, and all doctors recognized.

Read more at STAT.

The coronavirus pandemic is no longer a national emergency, but the virus that causes COVID-19 isn’t gone—and neither is the risk of getting the disease. For parents, navigating when to get their child vaccinated and knowing how to best protect their child from COVID-19 can be complicated. We spoke to Michael Smit, MD, MSPH, Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, to get an update on the latest COVID-19 vaccine information and precautions.

Who is eligible for the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine that was approved last fall?

Everyone who is 6 months and older should get a bivalent booster dose as long as it has been at least two months since they received a monovalent vaccine dose, which was the original COVID vaccine. People who are 6 years and older and who are immunocompromised can also receive a second dose of bivalent vaccine at least two months after their first dose of the bivalent. If you have questions about the eligibility of you or your child to get the booster, you should check with your medical provider.

Read more at News Wise.

This week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first monoclonal antibody shot to protect young children against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). While rates have now fallen, the three respiratory viruses (RSV, influenza, and COVID-19) surged among children last winter. Routine vaccinations, including the COVID-19 and flu shot, and the new RSV injection can provide important protection for children as they head back to school and into the winter season this year. This issue brief examines the most recent trends in children’s routine vaccinations, including COVID-19, and explores what to watch as children head back to school this year.

Read more at KFF.

In an interview with Spectrum News, Dr. Mandy Cohen, the new Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that her agency is likely to come out with guidance in the fall that Americans should get an annual COVID-19 booster to protect against the coronavirus.

The new recommendation, which the agency is finalizing and is expected to announce in early September, is the first such guidance on how to protect against COVID-19 long-term.

“We’re just on the precipice of that, so I don’t want to get ahead of where our scientists are here and doing that evaluation work, but yes we anticipate that COVID will become similar to flu shots, where it is going to be you get your annual flu shot and you get your annual COVID shot,” Dr. Cohen told Spectrum News at the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta this week.

Read more at Spectrum News.

Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, the website rebranding as X, is facing heated criticism for spreading misinformation on his platform again. On Tuesday, Musk incorrectly linked COVID-19 vaccines to college basketball star LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. suffering a cardiac arrest during practice. In a tweet, Musk claimed that “we cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing. Myocarditis is a known side-effect. The only question is whether it is rare or common.”

Because it has been repeatedly shown that this side effect is indeed rare, Twitter initially added a fact-check to the tweet. It was later removed, leaving the original misinformation standing without correction.

Read more at Salon.

Several routine childhood vaccines require multiple doses to be effective, but a new study finds children are not receiving all of them.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics Wednesday, found one in six toddlers between ages 19 months and 35 months started the vaccine series but didn’t complete it, leaving them vulnerable to serious diseases.

Researchers from several institutions, including the University of Montana, the University of Colorado, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and the Yale School of Public Health, looked at data from the 2019 National Immunization Survey for more than 16,000 children.

Read more at ABC.

Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have risen by more than 10% across the country, according to new data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the largest percent increase in this key indicator of the virus since December.

At least 7,109 admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were reported for the week of July 15 nationwide, the CDC said late Monday, up from 6,444 during the week before. 

Another important hospital metric has also been trending up in recent weeks: an average of 0.73% of the past week’s emergency room visits had COVID-19 as of July 21, up from 0.49% through June 21.

The new figures come after months of largely slowing COVID-19 trends nationwide since the last wave of infections over the winter.

Read more at CBS.