Covid-19 Timeline

06/09/2022

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on September 1, 2022, that teenagers and adults get updated booster shots from Pfizer or Moderna. The shots — also known as bivalent vaccines —are designed to target both the original coronavirus strain and the currently circulating omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

The FDA authorized Pfizer's shot for people ages 12 and up and Moderna's for ages 18 and up. For those who are up to date on their Covid vaccinations, the updated booster constitutes a fourth, fifth, or sixth shot, depending on one's age and health status.

The CDC recommended updated boosters, which target the original virus as well as the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, for adults and teens on Thursday.

11/08/2022

Students can stay in their classroom this fall if they've been exposed to Covid, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday in an updated guidance.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-covid-guidelines-schools-rcna42191

The change in advice reflects a shift from preventing Covid infections to protecting against the most severe outcomes of the virus.

18/06/2022

On Saturday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on Covid vaccines for the youngest Americans. Her endorsement means shots can begin immediately, finally ending the two-and-a-half year wait on the part of parents of children under 5.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-panel-endorses-covid-vaccines-littlest-kids-rcna34173

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s final approval means shots can begin immediately, finally ending the two-and-a-half year wait on the part of parents of children under 5.

07/06/2022

An independent advisory group to the Food and Drug Administration voted Tuesday in favor of authorizing the Covid vaccine made by drugmaker Novavax for adults ages 18 and older.

Twenty-one members of the committee voted yes, and none voted no, though one person abstained. Next, the FDA will decide whether to authorize the shot for emergency use, which would make it the fourth coronavirus vaccine available in the U.S. The FDA often follows the group’s recommendations.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-advisors-vote-favor-authorizing-novavax-covid-vaccine-rcna32332

The two-dose vaccine might appeal to some holdouts, experts think, since it does not use mRNA technology like the Pfizer and Moderna shots.

17/05/2022

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.

Children in the age group can get a booster shot at least five months after they’ve received the primary two-dose series, the FDA said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-authorizes-pfizer-covid-booster-children-5-11-years-old-rcna28355

A study in February found that two doses of the vaccine offered little protection against the omicron variant.

05/05/2022

The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed 1 million Covid-19 deaths — a once unthinkable scale of loss even for the country with the world's highest recorded toll from the virus. In a distant second is Brazil, which has recorded just over 660,000 confirmed Covid deaths.

The number — equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. — was reached at stunning speed: 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covids-toll-us-reaches-1-million-deaths-unfathomable-number-rcna22105

"It's an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart," one widow said.

28/04/2022

Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to expand the use of its Covid-19 vaccine to children ages 6 months to 5 years.

The drugmaker's request will then be considered by the FDA, which is expected to make a final decision in June.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/moderna-asks-fda-authorize-covid-vaccine-children-6-rcna25816

The FDA is expected to make a decision in June.

19/04/2022

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron and its sublineage BA.2.12.1 is estimated to make up more than 90% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of April 16, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

The seven-day moving average of U.S. COVID cases stood at 34,972 as of April 16, up 23.4% from a week earlier.

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-sub-variant-ba2-makes-up-nearly-75-covid-variants-us-cdc-2022-04-19/

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron and its sublineage BA.2.12.1 is estimated to make up more than 90% of the coronavirus variants in the United States as of April 16, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

15/04/2022

A wave of cases of the BA.2 omicron subvariant appears to finally be hitting the U.S.

Although the country's Covid hospitalizations are at an all-time low, average daily case numbers have risen by 9 percent in the last two weeks. Many experts agree that the true scale of the virus's spread is far larger, because infections are being undercounted.

BA.2 accounts for around 86 percent of U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For those once again navigating what to do if you're exposed or test positive, here's what the CDC recommends.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-guidelines-covid-tests-isolation-exposure-rcna24307

As the BA.2 omicron subvariant spreads in the U.S., people are once again looking to the CDC for recommendations about when to mask, test, quarantine and isolate.

13/04/2022

The Biden administration will extend for two weeks the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was set to extend the order, which was to expire on April 18, by two weeks to monitor for any observable increase in severe virus outcomes as cases rise in parts of the country. The move was being made out of abundance of caution. The requirement will now extend through May 3, 2022.

https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-centers-for-disease-control-and-prevention-e603a9dfc361ad095733bc868ebeba74

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will extend for two weeks the nationwide mask requirement for public transit as it monitors an uptick in COVID-19 cases, according to a person familiar with the matter.

01/04/2022

Compared to vaccination, Covid-19 itself is far more likely to lead to heart problems in teenage boys and young men, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday.

The study is the first to compare directly the odds of a type of heart inflammation called myocarditis following an infection versus vaccination — providing a clearer understanding of the real risk for heart problems and perhaps offering comfort to parents and young men who have had questions about the risks and benefits of the vaccine.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/heart-issues-common-covid-infection-vaccination-cdc-reports-rcna21558

A new analysis of the rates of myocarditis in young males may be reassuring to those reluctant to get their teenage boys vaccinated.

01/04/2022

Covid hospitalizations are at their lowest levels since the U.S. began keeping records at the start of the pandemic, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/covid-19-hospitalizations-country-hit-new-low-march-31-rcna22441

Wyoming, with the lowest rate of Covid hospitalizations in the U.S., reported nine on Thursday.

30/03/2022

People ages 50 and older can now receive a second booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.

Hours after the Food and Drug Administration authorized the second booster on Tuesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, issued a statement allowing shots to begin immediately.

The speed with which the two agencies cleared the additional vaccine doses indicates their concern about the spread of the extremely contagious omicron subvariant, known as BA.2. The subvariant accounts for about 55 percent of the new cases in the country, according to the latest data from the CDC.

The FDA had already authorized a fourth shot for immunocompromised individuals. Also Tuesday, the FDA cleared a fifth shot, or second booster, for that group. Previously, immunocompromised individuals were authorized to receive a three-dose primary series of a vaccine followed by a booster.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-authorizes-2nd-covid-booster-shot-people-50-older-rcna21824

Earlier in the day, the FDA authorized the additional doses for the age group, although many eligible people have still not received their first booster shots.

16/03/2022

Government scientists confirmed Tuesday that there has been an uptick in the presence of Covid-19 in wastewater samples across the U.S.

The potentially troubling trend comes as the country is shedding masks and easing pandemic restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-confirms-uptick-covid-19-found-wastewater-rcna20120

"It’s too early to know if this current trend will continue," according to the head of the agency's wastewater monitoring program.

15/03/2022

Nearly half of all European countries have recorded increases in new Covid-19 cases in the past week.

Europe's rise in infections is likely to be a result of the spread of the omicron subvariant known as BA.2, paired with waning immunity and the relaxation of mitigation policies.

BA.2 is considered a subtype of omicron because although it has small variations that set it apart they're not enough for it to be a new lineage. Still, some research suggests BA.2 is even more transmissible than the original omicron strain.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-cases-rising-uk-what-to-expect-us-rcna19891

Nearly half of European countries have recorded increases in new Covid cases over the last week. The U.S. could follow suit, but cases are still declining for now.

11/03/2022

The number of people worldwide who died because of the pandemic in its first two years may total more than 18 million, according to a sobering study released Thursday. That's three times more than the reported global death toll from Covid-19, which crossed 6 million earlier this week.

The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet, analyzed data from 74 countries and 266 states and territories between Jan. 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021.
..excess deaths were estimated at 18.2 million as of Dec. 31, 2021 — a number that does not include the full effect of the omicron wave. As of that same day, the study says, the world's official Covid death toll stood at 5.94 million.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/excess-pandemic-deaths-are-3-higher-official-covid-toll-study-rcna19497

In 2020 and 2021, 18 million more people died worldwide than would have otherwise been expected, new research shows.

07/03/2022

07/03/2022

The official global death toll from Covid-19 eclipsed 6 million on Monday — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe.

Remote Pacific islands, whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/global-death-toll-surpasses-6-million-pandemic-now-third-year-rcna18944

The milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks.

04/03/2022

March 1, 2022

04/03/2022

Data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Covid-19 levels have dropped significantly enough that more than 90 percent of people in the United States can go without masks.

The updated data, which shows that nearly everyone in the country lives in an area with low to medium risk for Covid, was released days after the agency released new guidance that tweaked how it measured that risk.

Instead of relying on case rates, the CDC now considers hospitalizations and hospital capacity a key metric.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cdc-numbers-show-90-percent-people-us-can-ditch-masks-rcna18663

The updated figures indicate that nearly everyone in the country lives in an area with low to medium risk for Covid.

25/02/2022

Most Americans are safe going without a mask in indoor settings, including in schools, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

The highly-anticipated change to the agency's mask guidance leans less heavily on Covid-19 cases as a key metric, instead giving more weight to hospitalizations and local hospital capacity.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-indoor-masking-no-longer-necessary-us-rcna17686

Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in areas with low to medium Covid-19 risk.

22/02/2022

https://www.today.com/video/as-covid-19-cases-drop-cdc-promises-revised-mask-guidance-soon-133369925969

Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, joins TODAY to comment on COVID-19 numbers falling and if it is the right time for mask mandates to be lifted. “Communication is key here,” he says, adding that when we lift mask mandates, we should make it clear that if there...

16/02/2022

February 15, 2022 U.S Hospitalizations

13/02/2022

It appears the coronavirus can leave patients at risk for heart problems for at least one year following infection, according to one of the largest analyses of post-Covid health effects to date.

The study, published last week in Nature Medicine, found that the illness increased the possibility of heart rhythm irregularities, as well as potentially deadly blood clots in the legs and lungs, in the year after an acute infection.

Covid also increased the risk for heart failure by 72 percent, heart attack by 63 percent and stroke by 52 percent — even among those whose original illnesses were mild.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-risks-heart-problems-remain-elevated-year-rcna15608

Among the unvaccinated, long-term heart risks attributed to Covid-19 were "everywhere," researchers found.

11/02/2022

Research published Thursday paints a startling picture of the destructive toll Covid-19 can take on pregnant women and their growing fetuses.

The virus can attack and destroy the placenta, a vascular organ that serves as a fetus’s lifeline, leading to asphyxiation and stillbirth, according to the study in the journal Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.

“We have never seen this level of destruction from an infectious illness before. It rendered the placenta unfit to carry out its duties,” said Dr. David Schwartz, a perinatal pathologist in private practice in Atlanta, who led the study. “These fetuses and newborns died from asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-stillbirths-coronavirus-can-severely-damage-placenta-pregnant-wo-rcna15534

Though rare, Covid during pregnancy can increase a woman's risk of stillbirth.

10/02/2022

The US is heading out of the “full blown” pandemic phase of Covid-19, the president’s chief medical adviser said, as he predicted a combination of vaccinations, treatments and prior infection would soon make the virus more manageable.

Dr Anthony Fauci told the Financial Times he hoped there would be an end to all pandemic-related restrictions in the coming months, including mandatory wearing of masks.

Fauci said: “As we get out of the full-blown pandemic phase of Covid-19, which we are certainly heading out of, these decisions will increasingly be made on a local level rather than centrally decided or mandated. There will also be more people making their own decisions on how they want to deal with the virus.”

Asked when restrictions might end, he said he hoped it would be “soon”, and agreed with the suggestion it was likely to happen this year. But he warned local health departments could reintroduce measures temporarily if outbreaks are detected in the community.

https://www.ft.com/content/3800e619-3404-4e57-a9eb-dab311405c2a

Biden’s top medical adviser says Americans will soon make ‘own decisions’ on dealing with virus

10/02/2022

February 9, 2022

08/02/2022

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he will let a statewide indoor mask mandate expire next week for people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Masks will continue to be the rule for schoolchildren, his office said and the unvaccinated will still have to wear masks indoors after the mandate ends Feb. 15.

Local governments can continue their own indoor masking requirements.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-let-indoor-mask-mandate-expire-vaccinated-people-rcna15276

The unvaccinated will still have to wear masks inside after the mandate ends Feb. 15, the governor said.

04/02/2022

COVID-19 spreads easily between people. CDC tracks how much COVID-19 is spreading as well as how likely people are to be exposed to it with a measurement known as the “level of community transmission.” You can use the COVID-19 County Check Tool for a snapshot of your county’s level of community transmission over the past 7 days. The tool also displays guidance on masking based on how the virus is spreading in your county.

https://www.cdc.gov/TemplatePackage/contrib/widgets/covidcountycheck/