Dr. Jha: How to stop coming winter wave of respiratory illnesses

The United States was one of the first countries to develop and approve a bivalent BA.4/BA.5 vaccine to combat COVID-19. “All the evidence to date suggests that these vaccines are working really well,” said Ashish Jha, MD, MPH, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

But there is still more work ahead. dr Jha discussed the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccines and what doctors can do to increase their uptake during an episode of the “AMA Update.”

Americans can expect a significant spike in infections later this fall and winter. “But the good news is that we can do something about how big the wave is, how many people are going to end up in the hospital.”

The solution, he said, is to get patients vaccinated and boosted, and to get those who acquire timely effective treatments for SARS-CoV-2 to do so.

Visit the AMA COVID-19 Physician Resource Center for clinical information, guides and resources, and updates on advocacy and medical ethics.

The effectiveness of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in preventing transmission has diminished over time due to virus evolution. When Omicron struck, it was clear the US needed a bivalent vaccine, said Dr. yeah

Six-month data from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech showed the bivalent vaccine was safe and protected people from infection and transmission better than the original.

“It made all the sense in the world in early July when the FDA [Food and Drug Administration] said to the companies, ‘Go out and build a bivalent BA.5 vaccine because that’s the virus that’s going to be out there,'” he said.

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About 10 million people received the bivalent injection in September. “We thought that was a pretty strong start. But we will build on that in October and publicize the importance of that,” said Dr. yeah

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19, half of adults have heard “a lot” or “somewhat” about the updated vaccines, while 31% have heard “a little” and 20% said they hadn’t heard anything about it, according to the Vaccine Monitor survey , as of last month.

US government scientists agree that there will be an annual booster shot against SARS-CoV-2 for most people. “If you were a 40-year-old and received a booster shot last November, you were still protected against serious illness up until now,” said Dr. yeah

Higher-risk patients, such as older adults and people with compromised immune systems, are likely to be vaccinated every six months.

“If you’re older and at higher risk, you’re at a much higher risk of not just getting infected, but being hospitalized and dying this fall,” he warned.

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While the United States is faring much better than it was two years ago, COVID-19 continues to take a heavy toll.

“We still have 400 deaths a day. This is a new disease that causes 130,000 to 150,000 deaths annually,” said Dr. yeah

But the action of Congress is gone. “They stopped funding the response,” he said, warning that few other buckets of cash will be available for COVID-19 funding in 2023.

This means that payment for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests will ultimately come from National Insurance and other existing programs.

“Our job is to make sure this is done in the least disruptive way possible,” he said. “We need to make sure there aren’t any financial barriers to accessing these things.”

This fall and winter, vaccines will be available to patients free of charge.

Doctors play an incredibly important role in making sure people get through the fall and winter safely.

“Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from respiratory viruses like COVID-19 RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]Influenza shouldn’t be a new normal,” said Dr. yeah

“If we want to protect people, we have to vaccinate them,” he added. “That comes from one-on-one conversations with doctors.”

AMA Update covers health topics that affect the lives of physicians and patients. Hear from physicians and experts on public health issues, advocacy, scope and more—because speaking matters. You can watch each episode by subscribing to the AMA’s YouTube channel or the audio-only podcast version, which also includes informative presentations and in-depth discussions.