Flu shot season is upon us.

Pharmacies began giving out the vaccines — which are recommended for everyone ages 6 months and older — last month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting a flu shot either this month or next, since flu activity typically picks up in the fall, with cases reaching their peak sometime from December to February. 

It takes around two weeks for the vaccine to become fully effective. 

“You really want to think about getting your appointment or making your plan to get vaccinated sometime around the last half of September through the end of October,” said Dr. Judith O’Donnell, chief of infectious diseases at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Read more at NBC.

Infectious disease experts say many people are not taking the latest Covid-19 wave in the US seriously enough and are not getting vaccinated or using antiviral drugs when sick, despite a summer wave that was larger and came earlier than anticipated.

Epidemiologists are saying that while symptoms of this wave are more mild than earlier strains, the virus remains a threat – particularly for older adults and people with underlying health conditions.

Read more at The Guardian.

Back-to-school season is an exciting time for parents, students, and school staff—full of possibilities and fresh opportunities. Unfortunately. the germs can say the same thing. Classrooms and daycares are a breeding ground for infectious illnesses which is why schools require certain vaccines. It’s a preventative measure to keep everyone safe but not everyone agrees with this. In America, all 50 states have vaccine requirements, but the specific details vary.

Here’s a look at vaccine requirements by state, exemptions, and the backlash against them.

Read more at Fast Company.

The Novavax vaccine is one of three vaccines available in the U.S. for the prevention of COVID-19 and the only one that does not use the relatively new mRNA vaccine technology. It’s unique among the available coronavirus vaccines here in that it uses a traditional virus-blocking technology that’s been used against other diseases.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized an updated 2024-2025 Novavax vaccine in August 2024. The Novavax shot was authorized for everyone ages 12 and older a little more than a week after the FDA approved newly updated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines for everyone ages 12 and older, and authorized them for children ages 6 months through 11 years.

Read more at Yale Medicine.

New COVID-19 and flu vaccines are hitting the shelves in Colorado — just in time for back-to-school season.

Why it matters: Much of the country, including the Centennial State, has been hit by a COVID spike this summer.

Threat level: Recent wastewater surveillance data shows “very high” viral activity levels in Colorado, per the CDC.

Driving the news: The Food and Drug Administration approved new formulations of both Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, and the updated shots are now available at CVS, Walgreens and many other pharmacies and doctors’ offices.

Read more at Axios Denver.

New Covid-19 vaccines are hitting the shelves just as a summer surge infects people across the nation.

For most, the virus has become background noise, but as case counts rise alongside the back-to-school season, the potential for spread grows exponentially.

There are “high” or “very high” levels of Covid in the wastewater in nearly every state, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At least one estimate suggests that as much as 2.5 percent of the population is infected with Covid.

Read more at Politico.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved two COVID-19 vaccines earlier than expected due to record-breaking surges of the virus. Instead of releasing them in the fall, following the pattern of previous coronavirus vaccine roll outs, they are available as early as this week. However, for some people, time is already running out to get the updated shots.

For the nearly 27 million adults who do not have health insurance, the new coronavirus vaccines will only be available for free until August 31. That’s because the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Bridge Access Program, which provided free coronavirus vaccines to uninsured adults, will end. Over the last year, the program provided free vaccines for nearly 1.5 million people since it launched in September 2023. Without insurance, the vaccine can cost at least $115.

Read more at Salon.

The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up, which renews a now-annual quandary for Americans: Get the shot now, with the latest covid outbreak sweeping the country, or hold it in reserve for the winter wave?

The new vaccine should provide some protection to everyone. But many healthy people who have already been vaccinated or have immunity because they’ve been exposed to covid enough times may want to wait a few months.

Read more at KFF Health News.

The federal government plans to relaunch its free COVID-19 home testing program at the end of September after suspending the program in March.

Why it matters: The Biden administration’s announcement Friday comes as the number of COVID infections grows in a summertime surge.

• Cases are growing in more than two dozen states and respiratory virus season fast approaches, CDC data shows.
• The Food & Drug Administration approved new formulations of both Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday.

The big picture: U.S. households will be eligible to order four free COVID-19 tests at COVIDTests.gov when the program resumes, per a government website.

Read more at Axios.

Whooping cough cases in Colorado have tripled so far this year, and schools are experiencing clusters of the preventable respiratory disease, according to the state health department.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Colorado had 333 cases of pertussis, the formal name for whooping cough, as of Aug. 3. At the same time last year, the state had 90 cases.

Nationwide, cases so far this year have more than tripled compared to last year, with the highest counts in Pennsylvania and New York.

Read more at The Denver Post.