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The CDC’s advisory panel for vaccinations met just a few weeks ago, at the end of October, and updated their guidelines for the 2024-2025 COVID vaccines. The basics haven’t changed: everyone 6 months and up should get a fall dose of the updated COVID shot to help protect against severe disease and death during this winter’s respiratory virus season. Remember, these vaccines are good but not great; they protect against severe disease and death, but only for a short window. They wane after 4 or 5 months. The CDC recommends that seniors (aged 65+) and those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should have a second dose of the 2024-2025 COVID vaccine six months after their first dose. Bottom line, this is saying that older Americans and those with immunocompromising conditions should get two shots per year. If you fall into the latter category and you are immunocompromised, they also suggested the option of speaking with your doctor about additional doses for three or more shots throughout the year. This is in part because COVID isn’t acting like flu, which has clear seasonality (it peaks in winter and is quiet in the spring and summer). If you’re not sure, reach out to your primary care doctor to discuss your vaccination schedule. Don’t forget that everyone in the U.S. who’s over 6 months old is eligible for the updated COVID shot this fall, and while it isn’t perfect, it can help keep you out of the hospital this winter.
This year’s wave of mosquito-borne illness will absolutely increase risk for employers, especially for those who have outdoor workers. It’s not just a fluke year, either. Mosquito-borne diseases are going to continue to be a problem as climate change expands the territory and length of the season in which mosquitoes can thrive. Diseases that were once only found in tropical climates are spreading locally in the U.S., including dengue and malaria. Global travel plays a part, too - people get infected while traveling and then come home, get bitten by the right type of mosquito, and voilà, local transmission. The overall case numbers are relatively small now, but we expect they’ll grow over the next few years. Emerging diseases are a threat, too, from Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which had a big summer in the Northeast, to the Oropouche virus, which is skyrocketing in South America and Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida. Employers should expect this to be an ongoing issue for more of the year and should protect employees with physical barriers (like screened-in outdoor areas), long-sleeved clothing, and insect repellent. You should also make monitoring outdoor areas for standing water part of your routine site inspections.