NEW YORK — The FDA has given the inexperienced gentle to COVID-19 boosters for youths as younger as 5.
In the meantime, on Wednesday morning Dr. Ashwin Vasan, New York Metropolis’s well being commissioner, gave an replace on the newest on COVID, monkeypox, and polio.
As CBS2’s Natalie Duddridge reported, total the newest statistics conveyed largely excellent news, however Vasan reminded the general public to not get complacent, and to maintain testing and getting boosted, particularly forward of the vacations.
Elementary children as younger as 5 will quickly be capable of get their booster pictures. The FDA accepted it and now the CDC simply has to log off.
Since final month, Individuals 12 and older have been in a position to get the up to date booster. To this point in New York Metropolis, 360,000 bivalent boosters have been administered. Statistics present there hasn’t been an enormous rush to get them, and well being officers are urging folks to hunt additional safety forward of the vacations.
Presently, COVID instances in New York Metropolis are secure at about 1,800 per day. The positivity price, hospitalization and deaths are all lowering.
However with so many individuals testing at residence, some are questioning the accuracy of the numbers.
“Based mostly on what occurred final winter, a brand new variant may come alongside, anyone may get it,” Lengthy Island Metropolis resident David Murphy mentioned.
That is why Vasan is urging everybody to maintain testing and getting boosted, particularly earlier than the vacations.
“I’d not be stunned if there was a rise in transmission into the winter,” Vasan mentioned.
As for monkeypox within the metropolis, 136,000 first and second doses have been administered, and instances have dropped to fewer than 10 per day, from a peak of 100 per day in July.
There may be nonetheless just one polio case recognized in New York state. Nonetheless, ongoing wastewater testing confirmed a pattern collected from an space on the border of Brooklyn and Queens in August was genetically linked to the case of paralytic polio previously identified in Rockland County.
Vasan is urging dad and mom to get their children the polio vaccine.
“We have seen constant declines in childhood immunization charges and a suspension of world polio eradication,” Vasan mentioned. “All of this has contributed to polio virus coming again to New York.”
Because the polio scare, there was a 9 p.c improve in dad and mom vaccinating their children as of October this 12 months in comparison with final 12 months, however the numbers are nonetheless lower than pre-pandemic ranges.
Vasan additionally says remember about getting your flu shot.
In relation to any of those viruses, numbers can transfer rapidly in both route, relying on what actions we do — or don’t — take, the well being commissioner mentioned.
