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.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved updated Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, putting the new shots on track to reach most Americans in the coming days amid a summer surge of the virus. 

The jabs target a strain called KP.2, a descendant of the highly contagious omicron subvariant JN.1 that began circulating widely in the U.S. earlier this year. KP.2 was the dominant Covid strain in May, but now only accounts for roughly 3% of all U.S. cases as of Saturday, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

Still, Pfizer and Moderna have said their KP.2 vaccines can produce stronger immune responses against other circulating subvariants of JN.1, such as KP.3 and LB.1, than last year’s round of shots targeting the omicron strain XBB.1.5 can.

Read more at CNBC.

Little coughs, feverish naps and runny noses.

Nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than a sick child. And it’s all the more troubling to contend with that when classes are in session. To best prepare, doctors are urging parents to check that kids’ routine vaccines are up to date before their first day of school.

Children should begin vaccinations against 15 potentially serious diseases before they turn 2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes annual shots against influenza and COVID-19.

Read more at USA Today.

As concerns mount about a type of mpox spreading across Africa that’s believed to cause more serious illness, infectious disease experts expressed cautious optimism that this branch of the virus would not spread as broadly in the U.S. or cause health impacts as severe.

The risk of this subtype of mpox to the U.S. could be mitigated by a number of factors, including immunity from vaccination and previous infection from the outbreak of a different variant that began in 2022; the lack of viral circulation in wild animals; and better health care access, living standards and public health.

Read more at NBC.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency as a deadly new strain of mpox is spreading through parts of Africa.

The big picture: This is the second time in just over two years that the WHO has declared mpox — previously known as monkeypox — to be a global emergency.

The latest: The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Friday raised its risk assessment level for the new mpox strain, saying it is “highly likely” Europe will see new cases crop up.

Read more at Axios.