Summer is starting to wind down, but COVID-19 cases are ramping up, just in time for flu season.
But there’s something to be excited this fall besides pumpkin spice. The Food and Drug Administration recently officially approved the latest COVID-19 vaccines for distribution, a hopefully new line of defense against yet another expected surge of cases as the weather cools down and more people gather indoors.
While an exact date isn’t known, the vaccines are expected to start being distributed sometime in September and like previous boosters and flu shots, can soon be found at major drugstore chains like Walgreens and CVS.
More:COVID-19 vaccines are updated and ready for fall, FDA says
COVID-19’s recent impact on Ohio
The state’s weekly average jumped from around 5,000 at the beginning of August to over 7,000 this past week, and August’s total currently sits at around 21,000.
The dominant variant both in Ohio and in the US is the KP.3.1.1 variant, a member of the Omicron family strain, but the recently-approved vaccines were designed to target the KP.2 variant.
More:Ohio’s COVID summer surge ramps up thanks largely to KP variant
Despite this, the vaccines will still offer protection against the more heavily circulating variant, Dr. Mark Herbert, an infectious disease specialist with Mount Carmel Health Systems, said.
“Vaccines work, and if the match is not exact, your immune system may be able to adjust so that the vaccine will help,” Herbert said. “Every vaccine is designed to prevent serious infection, to prevent hospitalization, to prevent death, and both of these vaccines have been shown over and over to prevent serious infection, hospitalization and death.”
Protecting yourself and others from the flu and COVID-19
Both nationally and statewide, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are nowhere near the levels they reached at the pandemic’s peak. However, infection can still present serious risks. Last season, more than 916,300 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, and 75,500 died from the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While the Ohio Department of Health maintains that there’s no evidence to suggest the new variants are any more severe than previous ones, COVID remains “a very real health threat,” and “any increase in cases reaffirms the importance of staying up to date with vaccination, which remains the best way to prevent severe illness from COVID.”
The same goes for the flu, thought its numbers remain low nationally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC recommends staying home when sick, maintaining good hygiene like frequent handwashing and increasing access to cleaner air, like keeping windows open for any respiratory illnesses. Herbert noted it’s also a good idea to keep at-home COVID-19 tests handy.
Samantha Hendrickson is The Dispatch’s medical business and health care reporter. She can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com.
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