At a Feb. 24 meeting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices stated that there currently is not enough evidence to recommend more than one annual COVID-19 booster to older Americans with weakened immune systems.
CDC in April 2022 recommended that immunocompromised people and people older than age 50 receive an additional booster shot four months following their initial booster. Advisers did not vote on new recommendations at their committee meeting.
COVID and Flu Combination Vaccine Delayed
A bivalent vaccine that protects against both SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and influenza (flu) will not be available this year, Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, confirmed in a March 1 National Foundation for Infectious Diseases webinar. The agency is collecting data to support a combination vaccine and working to standardize the composition of primary vaccines and booster shots.
Preliminary Medicaid and CHIP Data Snapshot
More than 137 million Americans, including children, pregnant people, parents, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP for at least one day during the public health emergency (PHE) period, according to a preliminary Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) snapshot for the period from March 2020 to July 2022.
Of those beneficiaries, 14 percent were dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
Notably, the rates of mental health, substance use disorder, and reproductive health services provided to adult beneficiaries during the PHE rebounded in early 2021 but remain below prior years’ averages.
Visit the America’s Essential Hospitals coronavirus resource page for more information about the pandemic.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
