New COVID mutants spread in Florida; boosters shots will cost soon
New, more infectious coronavirus mutations are spreading across Florida, and some who will seek new vaccinations to protect against the latest viral versions will have to start paying soon.
The federal government has said that by the end of the year it will run out of money to buy COVID-19 vaccines, meaning they will no longer be free to all recipients starting in January.
The latest shots from Moderna and Pfizer, federally approved in late August, are better built to fight offshoots of the virus’ omicron variant. The original omicron and its subvariants have accounted for virtually all COVID infections this year so far.
Those vaccines target the BA.5 omicron subvariant. While BA.5 has waned over the summer, it resembles the latest crop of viral mutations, potentially giving recipients of the latest vaccines stronger immunity compared with those who have gotten the original vaccines, which were designed for the original coronavirus first found in Wuhan, China.
The U.S. has bought 171 million doses of the latest vaccines. More than 19.4 million people have gotten those boosters. Once supplies run out, many shot-seekers will have to pay for immunization.
Previously:New COVID omicron subvariants starting to grow in the southeastern U.S.
Down again: COVID numbers continue to decline in Florida
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Several subvariants of omicron edging out BA.5 as the dominant strain
BA.5 offshoots — BF.7, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — have gained ground in Florida since August when it was first detected in a COVID test collected by the worldwide GISAID initiative, a group dedicated to rapidly sharing COVID data.
And in Singapore, another omicron subvariant, XBB, has caused the Asian city-state’s COVID caseload to double since Oct. 1. That mutation has been found in 45 tests across the United States, though none yet in Florida.
Caseload still on downward path while virals increase a little in sewage
Meanwhile, Florida’s COVID case counts and hospitalizations are continuing their downward slide, as viral levels increase slightly in sewage in some parts of the state, according to new data released Friday.
The state’s COVID case count grew an average of 10,028 cases each week since the state Health Department’s last biweekly report Oct. 7. That’s the lowest since April 8. More than 7.1 million people across the state have been infected by the disease.
Hospitals statewide tended to 1,152 COVID-positive patients Friday, the fewest since May 9. Florida’s COVID death toll grew by an average of 258 people each week since Oct. 7, the lowest since June 17.
More than 16 million Florida residents have gotten at least one shot of the COVID vaccines, including more than 6 million with boosters. Those numbers have barely changed since summer.
Still, vaccine immunity has been waning. Previous studies have shown protection starts to fade after several months. Yet even as these infectious mutations spread, Congress has not provided money to cover the costs of COVID vaccines, as the Biden Administration has requested.
Senate killed $10 billion in COVID money
In April, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of…
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