CDC Says ‘Very High’ COVID-19 Levels Reported in 32 States

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that COVID-19 levels across the United States are currently “very high” in more than half of states, with Omicron variants KP.3 and KP.3.1.1 accounting for about half of all cases.
In the winter of 2020–21, upward of 25,000 COVID-related deaths were tallied each week, according to CDC data.
A spokesperson for the CDC told The Epoch Times earlier in August that the KP.3.1.1 variant “is very similar to other circulating variants in the United States, and all current lineages are descendants of JN.1, which emerged in late 2023.”
“At this time, we anticipate that COVID-19 treatments and vaccines will continue to work against all circulating variants,” the CDC spokesperson said, adding that the health agency is monitoring the severity of variants and whether vaccines are effective.
There is no information “currently indicating that this variant causes more severe COVID-19,” and it is expected to cause similar symptoms as other variants, the CDC added.
COVID-19 is now the 10th leading cause of death. Early in the pandemic, the virus was the nation’s third leading cause of death. It dropped to fourth in 2022.
The leading causes of death were heart disease, cancer, and a category of injuries that include gun-related deaths and drug overdoses.
There were nearly 3.1 million deaths last year in the United States, down from 3.3 million in 2022. For many years before the pandemic, deaths usually rose year-to-year, in part because the nation’s population grew. COVID-19 accelerated that trend, making 2021 the deadliest in U.S. history at 3.4 million deaths. But the number dropped in 2022 as the pandemic ebbed.
Meanwhile, an advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in June that major U.S. vaccine makers should now target any COVID-19 variants that are derived from JN.1. Those vaccines should be rolled out in the fall of 2024, officials said.
“We remain optimistic about our combination COVID-19 and influenza program, for which we are evaluating the next steps,” Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer’s head of vaccine research and development, said in the release.