A new study in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Sept. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reported lower in-hospital mortality rates among patients hospitalized due to the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, compared with the delta variant pandemic period.
The report cited higher levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity, advances in early treatment for patients at risk for severe disease, and lower pathogenicity of omicron subvariants as the factors behind the lower rates.
The omicron variant is more infectious than previous dominant variants but has been associated with less severe disease.
PRF Period 3 Reporting Deadline
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced that health care providers that received Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments exceeding $10,000 total between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2021, have until Sept. 30 to report how they used their period 3 provider relief payments.
Providers who fail to do so will be excluded from receiving and/or retaining future PRF payments, including any applicable phase 4 payments. The deadline to use funds for period 3 was June 30.
HRSA noted that the reporting process serves as a means to understand the program’s nationwide impact.
FDA Revises Novavax Vaccine Authorization
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Sept. 12 revised the conditions of authorization for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, Adjuvanted, related to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reporting requirements for vaccination providers and Novavax, Inc. to include myocarditis and pericarditis.
FDA also revised its fact sheet for health care providers with information about this updated reporting requirement.
The change will help ensure that Novavax and vaccine providers report to VAERS cases of myocarditis and pericarditis that may not meet the definition of serious adverse events following vaccine administration.
Most recently, FDA granted emergency use authorization of the Novavax vaccine for adolescents ages 12—17 on Aug. 19.
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.
