An employee of Neighborhood Health, which provides primary care services through multiple health clinics in Fairfax County, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a pediatric patient. The nonprofit led efforts to vaccinate low-income children in Northern Virginia. (Courtesy of Neighborhood Health)
While respiratory illnesses like the flu typically trend higher in the winter months, COVID-19 is not totally seasonal. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate high or very high levels of COVID nationwide this summer. But with new vaccines expected to be available next month and the winter months on the horizon, medical professionals in Virginia suggest people get their shots sooner rather than later.
“COVID mutates quicker than the flu,” said Heather Harmon-Sloan with Virginia’s Department of Health. “This makes it incredibly important to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine that will be coming out here shortly.”
This is because the newer vaccines — approved last week and expected in September — will be more effective at guarding against the latest variants of the virus. The new Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will target the specific strain of the virus that has been attributed to spikes in infections this past spring and summer.
Over 3% of emergency room visitors each week for the past three weeks in Virginia have been diagnosed with COVID-19, a number that has been rising over the summer. And while not every case may lead to an emergency room visit, wastewater surveillance to detect the presence of COVID indicates high levels around the country . Virginia’s latest surveillance shows mostly a plateau around the state with an increase in the Eastern Shore .
“What we’re seeing right now is higher than what we saw this time last year,” Harmon-Sloan said.
She also attributes some of the spikes in cases and emergency visits to the inclination to spend more time indoors amid the summer heat — not unlike how indoor gatherings in the winter contribute to infection spikes.
“Respiratory viruses tend to be able to spread more efficiently when we’re all indoors, especially if we have poor ventilation,” she said.
This is where opening windows, practicing social distancing and mask use can help reduce infection potential, Harmon-Sloan said.
And while the new vaccines should target the same variant that has been driving the summer wave, Harmon-Sloan said that anyone who was infected this summer could consider delaying the new vaccine for about three months.
This is because those people may have a temporary resistance to the strain having just recovered from it, but she still suggests that people speak with their doctors if they’re weighing when they should get their newest shots.
“People overall should get the new vaccine — even if they were vaccinated or were sick with COVID 19 earlier this year,” she said. The vaccine that’s emerging “is going to better target those particular variants that are new, that are in circulation right now in our communities, and the cause for these high trends.”
The CDC will be launching a vaccine locator through the vaccines.gov website. Additionally, President Joe Biden’s administration announced last week that it will once again offer free at-home COVID test kits that people can receive by mail. They can be ordered through covidtest.gov.
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