White House COVID-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha at the White House in Washington on October 25, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | reuters
as covid and flu hospitalization White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said that given the surge in the weeks following Thanksgiving, families will be safe at upcoming holiday gatherings if they get their updated vaccines.
This year, for the first time, hospitals are facing the threat of covid, flu and RSV at the same time. The spread of flu and RSV was much lower during the pandemic due to the widespread masking and social distancing implemented in response to COVID, but as most people return to normal life, all three viruses are spreading widely.
As of 14 December, the 7-day average of weekly new COVID cases reached 65,067, down 2.9% from the previous week. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
“The good news here is that we can prevent those infections from turning into serious disease if people go out and get the updated bivalent vaccine,” Jha said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.
Public health officials have said that many people are probably more vulnerable to flu and RSV this year because they were not infected in the past two years, meaning their immunity is lower. The CDC reported that about 23,503 patients were hospitalized with influenza this week, while some states reported RSV hospitalizations.
According to the CDC, the number of hospitalizations of people with COVID averaged more than 5,000 per day.
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said it’s going to be a “tough few weeks,” and he told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that this year’s respiratory pathogen season was “the best in recent memory.” is the worst.
Gottlieb said this has been a historic year for flu in particular.
“80% of hospital beds are full now. Hospitals have not been so full since the peak of the Omicron wave last winter,” he said. “The difference is that last winter, 25% of those hospital beds were filled with Covid admissions. Right now, only 6% are filled with Covid admissions.”
Even though it is safe to gather in groups this year, Jha said staying up to date on vaccines will be essential to keep people out of the hospital.
“I got my flu shot last year. I don’t expect that to protect me this winter,” he said. “I go out and get my flu shot every winter, the same way people have to go out and get their Covid shot.”