Spring 2023 COVID Update

Tuesday morning the FDA announced that people age 65 and up can now get a second bivalent dose at least 4 months after their initial bivalent dose. They said that “the second dose is supported by data showing that immunity w

anes in this population over time, but that an additional dose restores it.” The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be meeting on Wednesday, and hopefully will give more detailed recommendations for additional doses for those who are immunocompromised.

The current bivalent vaccine is still preventing severe disease from the dominant strain in the US (XBB.1.5) - the strain is the cause of just under 80% of all current US cases.

Currently, we do not have COVID vaccines in stock in the office, but they should be readily available at your pharmacy. If the formula changes (ie a vaccine that covers new or additional strains), we may be able to provide these for you again. We’ll let you know!

New strains we’re watching:

Hyperion (XBB.1.9.1) - causing 7% of US cases

Arcturus (XBB.1.16) - causing 7% of US cases; caused a big wave in India. Not expected to affect the US as badly.

XBC.1.6 - Combination of Delta and Omicron, started in Australia and caused a surge of cases and hospitalizations. Will watch this as it spreads.

Other mutations - some strains appear to be mutating in a way that makes the Paxlovid less effective. Too soon to say whether or not this will progress enough to be an issue of concern. Already, the monoclonal antibodies don’t work well against the current variants and are not recommended.

Public Health Emergency ending - what does this mean for you?

Antigen (rapid) tests - currently the PHE requires that insurers reimburse for 8 tests per person, per month (although the pharmacy tells me that mine won’t pay for them!). After May, this is no longer a requirement. If your insurance does pay - recommend getting a supply before the end of the month!

Vaccine Supply - Vaccines will be fully covered until the government stockpile is gone - there are the vaccines that the feds bought from the pharma companies. After that, your insurance company will cover them, ideally with no copay required. We’ll see.

Data - As the different funding sources dry up, the scientists will be getting less information with which to make predictions about outbreaks, variants, etc. Hopefully this won’t hurt us in the long run.

Medical Care - This one is really tough to predict, partially because we’re dealing with multiple different state and federal agencies. Medicaid coverage may change for patients, depending on the state. Coverage for COVID-related care and PCR tests may no longer be fully covered. Coverage for telehealth visits may change as well. As a doctor, I’m getting very little guidance about these changes, but what info I do get, I will pass on to you!

As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Dr. Husney

Paragon Family Medicine