Health experts issue urgent Covid-19 and influenza warning as new variant surges

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a stark warning that the rapid spread of a highly contagious Covid variant could force hospitals to ration care as early as the end of this month in the US.

The health agency is concerned about the strain on America’s healthcare system due to the combined impact of Covid-19 and influenza, particularly with the recent increase in new variant JN.1.

The CDC stated: “COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising quickly. Since the summer, public health officials have been tracking a rise in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), which is caused by COVID-19. Influenza activity is growing in most parts of the country. RSV activity remains high in many areas.”

Healthcare workers transport a patient from an ambulance

In an earlier bulletin, the agency warned: “In some parts of the country, hospital beds for children are already nearly as full as they were this time last year. If these trends continue, the situation at the end of this month could again strain emergency departments and hospitals.”

As we approach the peak season for the year’s three major respiratory viruses – influenza, COVID-19, and RSV – the CDC continues to urge people to get vaccinated.

According to the agency, some parts of the country are seeing paediatric hospitals “already nearly as full as they were this time last year”. Earlier this week, emergency room statistics showed almost double the number of school-age children compared to last week.

The Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is prepared for administration

The rise in numbers, largely due to an increase in flu cases, comes after weeks of steady emergency room figures nationwide before Thanksgiving.

The current situation isn’t too different from what we saw this time last year, with flu cases now outnumbering Covid-19 for the first time in months across most age groups. Only in older age groups does the rate of coronavirus remain higher than influenza. Some nursing homes around the country, including in the Midwestern region, have already surpassed last year’s rates.

The JN.1 variant is beginning to dominate the latest wave of Covid-19 infections. It’s thought to be similar to the BA.2.86 variant, which was highlighted in the CDC’s projections.

Shot of a young woman blowing her nose with a tissue at home

A group of experts brought together by the World Health Organization concluded this month that the changes in JN.1 weren’t significant enough to require a new revision to the current vaccines. However, early figures suggest these jabs were less effective at neutralising the strain.

The agency stated: “CDC projects that JN.1 will continue to increase as a proportion of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences. It is currently the fastest-growing variant in the United States.”

“Right now, we do not know to what extent JN.1 may be contributing to these increases or possible increases through the rest of December like those seen in previous years.”

Health officials have also said they have seen an “unprecedented drop” in vaccinations recently, with fewer adults getting their flu shots compared to last year.

Experts are calling on vaccine providers to work harder to make sure people keep getting their COVID-19 shots this year, especially older folks who could get very sick.

CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said: “We aren’t seeing the uptake in vaccines that we would like to see.”

“We acknowledge that is too low and it is one of the reasons we wanted to have this conversation.”

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]