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The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is already available for children ages 12 and older, and clinical trials are underway for children as young as 6 months old.
Pfizer’s vaccine trial data for children ages 5 to 11 will likely be submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration by the end of September or first week of October, CEO Albert Bourla said at the Research!America National Health Research Forum.
After that, it’s up to the FDA to review the data and decide whether to authorize the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11. Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CBS that if all goes well, he believes the vaccine might be authorized for that age group by Halloween.
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine trial data for babies and toddlers ages 6 months up to 5 years might be available by the end of October or beginning of November, Bourla said, and will also be submitted to the FDA.
The CDC lists active and inactive ingredients for each of the three coronavirus vaccines used in the US.
“None of the vaccines contain eggs, gelatin, latex, or preservatives,” the CDC said.
And contrary to popular myths, the vaccines don’t have microchips and can’t make you magnetic.
“All COVID-19 vaccines are free from metals such as iron, nickel, cobalt, lithium, rare earth alloys or any manufactured products such as microelectronics, electrodes, carbon nanotubes, or nanowire semiconductors.”
The CDC said it’s important to avoid exposing healthcare workers and the public to coronavirus if you’re still contagious.
“Flu vaccination should be deferred for people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, whether or not they have symptoms, until they have met the criteria to discontinue their isolation,” the CDC said.
Here’s when you can stop isolating after a Covid-19 diagnosis.
More than 55,000 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 since August 2020, according to the CDC.
And it’s not just children with preexisting conditions getting hospitalized.
Almost half – 46.4% – of children hospitalized with Covid-19 between March 2020 and June 2021 had no known underlying condition, according to CDC data from almost 100 US counties.
During this Delta variant surge, an average of 367 children with Covid-19 were getting hospitalized every day during the week ending September 7, according to CDC data.
At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, “we’ve had infants as small as 6 to 8 months old up to the teenage years,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs Dr. Alan Jones said in July.
“It appears as though this particular variant, the Delta variant, while being more infectious is also causing more children to be symptomatic,” he said.
“Whether that just is that it causes a little more severe illness than other variants or that it is just more prevalent — and so we’re seeing more symptomatic cases — we’re not sure … but it’s probably multifactorial.”
Some youngsters have suffered long-term effects from Covid-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) – a rare but potentially serious condition that can happen in children weeks after a coronavirus infection.
More than 4,600 children have suffered from MIS-C, according to the CDC.
And while pediatric Covid-19 deaths are rare, at least 520 children in the US have died from Covid-19, according to CDC data.
If possible, buy a few different brands of masks and see which one is most comfortable for your child, emergency physician and CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said.
“Different people have different comfort levels,” she said. For example, some children might like one brand of kid-sized surgical masks over another.
Other children might feel more comfortable wearing kid-sized KN95 masks, which allow more room for the nose and mouth.
“The most important thing is to find the best that you can consistently wear throughout the day,” Wen said. “You don’t want to find a mask that you’re trying to pull off your face every 20 minutes.”
Buying masks with fun designs or with your child’s favorite characters on them can also help, psychologist Christopher Willard said. Children can also customize their masks by drawing on them with markers.
And, of course, parents can set a good example by also wearing a mask.
“Infections in fully vaccinated people (breakthrough infections) happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant,” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Moreover, when these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild.”
Even for those who get breakthrough infections, a new study published in September found vaccines can reduce the chances of having long-term Covid-19 symptoms.
“We found that the odds of having symptoms for 28 days or more after post-vaccination infection were approximately halved by having two vaccine doses,” researchers wrote in the study published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
“This result suggests that the risk of long COVID is reduced in individuals who have received double vaccination, when additionally considering the already documented reduced risk of infection overall.”
For symptomatic carriers: If it’s been at least 10 days since your symptoms started and at least 24 hours since you’ve had a fever (without the help of fever-reducing medication) and your other symptoms have improved, you can go ahead and stop isolating, the CDC said.
“Some severely immunocompromised persons with COVID-19 may remain infectious beyond 20 days after their symptoms began and require additional SARS-CoV-2 testing and consultation with infectious diseases specialists and infection control experts,” the CDC said.
“A limited number of persons with severe illness may produce replication-competent virus beyond 10 days, that may warrant extending duration of isolation for up to 20 days after symptom onset. Consider consultation with infection control experts.”
(It’s important to note symptoms typically don’t show up until days after infection — and you can be contagious during this pre-symptomatic time. Also, symptoms can last for weeks or months — including in young people.)
For asymptomatic carriers: People who tested positive but never develop Covid-19 symptoms can stop isolating 10 days after their first positive PCR test, the CDC said.
“Yes, you should be vaccinated regardless of whether you already had COVID-19,” the CDC says.
“Evidence is emerging that people get better protection by being fully vaccinated compared with having had COVID-19. One study showed that unvaccinated people who already had COVID-19 are more than 2 times as likely than fully vaccinated people to get COVID-19 again,” the CDC’s website says.
“If you were treated for COVID-19 with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, you should wait 90 days before getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are unsure what treatments you received or if you have more questions about getting a COVID-19 vaccine.”
Many doctors believe the immunity gained through vaccination is likely stronger and lasts longer than the immunity achieved from previous infection.
“Many of the vaccines that we’ve made in history are actually stronger than the virus is itself at creating immunity,” epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant said.
No. “The greatest risk of transmission is among unvaccinated people who are much more likely to get infected, and therefore transmit the virus,” the CDC said about the Delta variant on August 26.
A study published by the CDC in late August showed vaccinated people were 5 times less likely to get infected than unvaccinated people.
When a fully vaccinated person does get a breakthrough infection, “your chances of having symptoms go down by 8-fold” compared to an unvaccinated person, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said August 1.
“People infected with the Delta variant, including fully vaccinated people with symptomatic breakthrough infections, can transmit the virus to others,” the CDC said. “CDC is continuing to assess data on whether fully vaccinated people with asymptomatic breakthrough infections can transmit the virus.”
Even if a vaccinated person gets a breakthrough infection and is contagious, “vaccinated people appear to spread the virus for a shorter time,” the CDC said.
“For people infected with the Delta variant, similar amounts of viral genetic material have been found among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like prior variants, the amount of viral genetic material may go down faster in fully vaccinated people when compared to unvaccinated people,” the CDC said. “This means fully vaccinated people will likely spread the virus for less time than unvaccinated people.”
Avoiding vaccination can harm your loved ones and help create even more contagious or more dangerous variants for everyone, doctors say.
Full vaccination reduces the chances of getting and spreading the highly contagious Delta variant.
Children too young to be vaccinated and people who are immunocompromised also rely on the vaccination of others to help protect them, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
But vaccination is also important to help prevent more contagious or more dangerous variants from forming — such as one that might evade vaccines and harm those who are fully vaccinated.
“If we are going to continue to allow this virus to spread, we’re going to continue to allow … variants to be created,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
Viruses frequently mutate as they replicate among infected people. If the mutations are significant, they can lead to a more contagious variant like the Delta variant, which is now the dominant strain in the US.
“Think of a virus as a necklace full of different-colored beads,” board-certified internist Dr. Jorge Rodriguez said.
“In position No. 1, you need a red bead. Position No. 2 is a green bead. That’s the genetic code – that sequence of bead colors,” he said.
“When a virus replicates, it is supposed to make an exact replica of those bead colors. But every once in a while, maybe a green bead gets into where a red bead is supposed to be.”
When mutations give the virus an advantage — such as the ability to replicate faster or to hide from the immune system – that version will outcompete others.
The only way to get rid of variants is to lower the number of infections, said Penny Moore, an expert in viruses at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
That’s a big reason why doctors say people should get vaccinated as soon as they can. Those who don’t get vaccinated aren’t just risking their own health — they’re also jeopardizing the health of others.
“Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories,” Schaffner said. “The more unvaccinated people there are, the more opportunities for the virus to multiply.”
Full vaccination significantly reduces the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death from the Delta variant, though breakthrough infections are possible.
“Vaccines continue to reduce a person’s risk of contracting the virus that cause COVID-19, including this variant,” the CDC said in a August 2021 update.
But when the Delta variant accounted for the majority of coronavirus in the US, the effectiveness of vaccines against infection dropped from 91% to 66%, according to a study published August 24 by the CDC.
The study is in line with others from the US and around the world showing Delta’s increased tendency to cause largely minor infections among fully vaccinated people.
Still, the effectiveness of vaccines against severe disease — including hospitalization and death — has remained high against all known variants.
And “the vast majority of hospitalization and death caused by COVID-19 are in unvaccinated people,” the CDC said.
Health experts say it’s important not to skip a dose of any two-dose vaccine.
Two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine offered 88% protection against symptomatic Covid-19 caused by the Delta variant, according to a study published in May by Public Health England.
But those who got only one dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine had just 33% protection against the Delta variant three weeks later, according to the study.
“The key is: Get vaccinated. Get both doses,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said.
Americans vaccinated with the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines may be eligible for a third dose starting September 20 – pending independent review of the safety and efficacy of a third dose, several US health officials said in a joint statement August 18.
“We are prepared to offer booster shots for all Americans beginning the week of September 20 and starting 8 months after an individual’s second dose,” said the health officials, who include CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
The US Food and Drug Administration has already authorized third doses for some immunocompromised people who might not get as much protection from two doses as others do.
For Americans who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, “We also anticipate booster shots will likely be needed for people who received the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine,” the joint statement said.
“Administration of the J&J vaccine did not begin in the U.S. until March 2021, and we expect more data on J&J in the next few weeks. With those data in hand, we will keep the public informed with a timely plan for J&J booster shots as well.”
The health officials said the Covid-19 vaccines used in the US “continue to be remarkably effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even against the widely circulating Delta variant.”
But immunity can wane over time, and additional vaccine doses could be needed to provide long lasting protection, the health officials said.
With “the dominance of the Delta variant, we are starting to see evidence of reduced protection against mild and moderate disease,” the statement read.
“Based on our latest assessment, the current protection against severe disease, hospitalization, and death could diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout. For that reason, we conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize vaccine-induced protection and prolong its durability.”
The CDC and others say vaccination is still the best weapon in the fight against Covid-19.
“Nearly all the cases of severe disease, hospitalization, and death continue to occur among those not yet vaccinated at all,” the joint statement said.
No. Businesses have been able to issue Covid-19 vaccine mandates for months, back when all three vaccines used in the US had emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration, according to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
But full FDA approval could make legal challenges against vaccine mandates more difficult.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is the only one that has been granted full FDA approval — specifically, for people ages 16 and up. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines both have emergency use authorization (EUA) for use in adults ages 18 and up.
Pfizer/BioNTech started applying for full approval in May. In June, Moderna announced it started applying for full approval of its coronavirus vaccine. As of August 23, Johnson & Johnson had not yet filed for full FDA approval of its vaccine.
On August 25, Moderna announced it had finished its submission for full FDA approval. The FDA has been assessing Moderna’s application, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said.
Murthy said he said he anticipates Johnson & Johnson will submit its application in the near future.
But regardless of which vaccine people receive, “getting vaccinated now with any of the three vaccines is still your fastest path to protection … particularly against hospitalization and death from the virus,” the surgeon general said.
For months, children ages 12 to 15 have been able to get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine due to emergency use authorization by the FDA.
In light of the FDA’s recent full approval of the vaccine for those ages 16 and up, “I don’t think it’ll be long before they extend it to 12 to 15 – maybe within a few weeks to a month or so,” Dr. Bob Frenck, director of the Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said in late August.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was granted emergency use authorization for people 16 and up in December. In May, the FDA expanded that EUA to include children ages 12 to 15.
“COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all people 12 years and older, including people who are pregnant, breastfeeding, trying to get pregnant now, or might become pregnant in the future,” the CDC said.
“Evidence about the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy has been growing,” the CDC said in an August 11 update.
Scientists say Covid-19 — not the Covid-19 vaccine — can put a woman at higher risk of severe illness during pregnancy.
Covid-19 can lead to “adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth,” said Sascha Ellington, team lead for emergency preparedness and response in the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health.
“This vaccine can prevent Covid-19, and so that’s the primary benefit.”
Compared to unvaccinated people, “If you’re (fully) vaccinated now, your chances of getting infected go down by 3 1/2-fold,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said August 1.
“Your chances of having symptoms go down by 8-fold. Your chance of ending up with illness significant enough to be in the hospital goes down 25-fold.”
Such decreases in infections, illnesses and hospitalizations are “fantastically good for any vaccine,” Collins said. “We didn’t really have a right to dare they would be this good in the real world, and they are — even against Delta.”
The Delta variant “is highly contagious, more than 2x as contagious as previous variants,” the CDC said.
Delta also appears to cause more severe disease, according to an internal presentation from the CDC.
More than 99.99% of people who were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, a CNN analysis of August 2 CDC data suggests.
It’s impossible to get Covid-19 from a vaccine because there is no coronavirus in any of the vaccines used in the US.
The vaccines can’t prevent people from breathing in the virus. What they can do is ensure that the body mounts a fast response to clear the virus if someone does get exposed. During that time, some people might actually become infected.
But more than 99.99% of people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, a CNN analysis of CDC data suggests.
As of August 2, more than 164 million people in the US were fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
Among them, 7,101 people – or less than 0.005% – were hospitalized with Covid-19, and 1,507 people — or less than 0.001% — died, according to the CDC data.
Those who get breakthrough infections generally have milder symptoms than unvaccinated people or no symptoms at all, CDC research shows.
Because few people get tested after they’ve been fully vaccinated, there’s limited data on how many vaccinated people get mild or asymptomatic infections.
But about half of states have reported data on Covid-19 breakthrough cases – and in each of those states, less than 1% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough infection, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis published July 30.
More than 90% of people who end up in the hospital or who die from Covid-19 have not been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
It’s important to remember you’re not fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after your final dose of Covid-19 vaccine, so you’re still vulnerable in the first few weeks of vaccination.
“Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated,” the CDC says.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance on July 27:
That guidance is stronger than in May, when the CDC said fully vaccinated people could unmask in most situations. But back then, the highly contagious Delta variant represented only about 1% of reported infections. By late July, at least 83% of sequenced samples were from the Delta variant.
“The Delta variant behaves uniquely differently from past strains of the virus that cause Covid-19,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said July 27.
“This new science is worrisome and unfortunately warrants an update to our recommendations,” she said. “This is not a decision that we or CDC has made lightly.”
States with below-average vaccination rates had, on average, almost triple the rate of new Covid-19 cases compared to states with above-average vaccination rates, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
For those not fully vaccinated, the CDC says it’s crucial to mask up:
“Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever,” the CDC said.
“Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death.”
The vaccines require an immune system response to work, so millions of Americans who are immunocompromised or take drugs that suppress the immune system might not get as much help from a standard vaccine course as others do.
On August 12, the FDA authorized a third dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for certain people with compromised immune systems. That group includes “solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise,” the FDA said.
Immunocompromised people who took the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also likely need an additional dose, “but we are waiting on some data from the company about a second dose,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said August 22.
The CDC estimates 9 million Americans are immunocompromised. They’re in a tough spot because they’re at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19, but they also might not generate enough of an immune response to get the full benefits from a standard course of vaccine.
That’s why many Americans are counting on fellow Americans to get vaccinated to help protect them, said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
If there are tissues nearby, you can take your mask off and sneeze into the tissue before putting your mask back on, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said.
For kids in school — or anyone else who might have to wear a mask all day — keep a backup mask in a baggie in case the first mask gets dirty. You can put the dirty mask in the baggie.
It’s also a good idea to keep backup masks in your car in case of any mask accidents.
“Delay travel until you are fully vaccinated,” the CDC says. Fully vaccinated means at least 2 weeks have passed since your last dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
For those traveling within the US, you “do NOT need to get tested or self-quarantine if you are fully vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 3 months. You should still follow all other travel recommendations,” the CDC says.
For example, face masks are still required to board public transportation.
Americans traveling internationally should learn about the Covid-19 restrictions in place at their destination. Those flying back home to the US must provide proof that they have recently tested negative for coronavirus or recently recovered from Covid-19. They should also get a viral test 3 to 5 days after coming home, the CDC says.
For those who aren’t fully vaccinated but must travel, the guidelines are much tougher. The CDC says it’s important to wear a mask; get tested within three days before traveling; maintain physical distance from anyone not traveling with you; and quarantine for 10 days after you return home. (That quarantine period can be reduced to 7 days if you get tested 3 to 5 days after coming home.)
The Delta Plus variant (B.1.617.2.1) is a new and slightly changed offshoot of the highly contagious Delta variant (B.1.617.2).
All variants carry clusters of mutations. Delta Plus is different from Delta because it has an extra mutation called K417N. That mutation affects the spike protein – the part of the virus that attaches to human cells it infects.
The Indian government’s Covid-19 genome sequencing body said the Delta Plus variant exhibits several worrying traits such as increased transmissibility, stronger binding to receptors of lung cells, and a potential reduction in antibody response.
It’s not yet clear what effect the mutation may have on vaccine efficacy. But it could give the variant “significant vaccine escape properties,” warned Julian Tang, professor of respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester.
Most of the coronavirus vaccines are designed to train the body to recognize the spike protein, or parts of it – which is where Delta Plus’ extra mutation is.
But there isn’t enough evidence to determine anything conclusively yet. The World Health Organization is tracking Delta Plus to determine its transmissibility and severity, said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19.
The US is among at least 11 countries that have reported cases of the emerging Delta Plus variant. But Delta Plus has not made up a significant share of sequenced Covid-19 cases in the US, according to June data from the CDC.
In late June, the genetic sequencing company Helix said it has seen some intermittent cases of the Delta Plus variant in the US.
“It is a normal human reaction to be afraid,” pediatrician Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez said. “They’re having a normal reaction, and perhaps they haven’t been able to sit down with their physician.”
She suggests finding a time to have a calm, rational conversation — when neither person is angry or likely to start a fight.
“The first thing I would say is ‘I get it. I totally get where you’re coming from and I understand that you’re concerned about this,’” Bracho-Sanchez said.
It’s also important to cite scientific data — like the truth about side effects, the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and why it’s important for young, healthy people to get vaccinated.
“The federal government does not mandate (require) vaccination for people,” the CDC said. “Whether a state or local government or employer, for example, can require or mandate COVID-19 vaccination is a matter of state or other applicable law.”
But if only half of all Americans are willing to get vaccinated, Covid-19 could stick around for years, said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health.
Health experts say if you don’t get a vaccine, the consequences will extend far beyond yourself — even if you’re young and healthy now. Not only would you be more vulnerable to getting severely sick with Covid-19 or “long Covid” — it will also be harder to achieve herd immunity through vaccination.
In other words, doctors say: Getting vaccinated is critical for slowing or possibly ending this pandemic. And that will help everyone get back to normal, faster.
“It’s all free. The government is paying for this,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
Some people have reported feeling temporary, flu-like symptoms. Don’t freak out if this happens to you, health experts say.
“These are immune responses, so if you feel something after vaccination, you should expect to feel that,” said Patricia Stinchfield of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.
“And when you do, it’s normal that you have some arm soreness or some fatigue or some body aches or even some fever,” Stinchfield said.
Read more about what to do if you do get side effects and why side effects are often a good sign.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has shown no serious safety concerns, Pfizer said. Pfizer has said side effects “such as fever, fatigue and chills” have been “generally mild to moderate” and lasted one to two days.
Moderna said its vaccine did not have any serious side effects. It said a small percentage of trial participants had symptoms such as body aches and headaches.
With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the most common side effects were pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue and muscle pain. While the CDC recommends the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, “women younger than 50 years old especially should be aware of the rare but increased risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS),” the agency says. “TTS is a serious condition that involves blood clots with low platelets. There are other COVID-19 vaccine options available for which this risk has not been seen.”
Aerosolized spread is the potential for coronavirus to spread not just by respiratory droplets, but by even smaller particles called aerosols that can float in the air longer than droplets and can spread farther than 6 feet.
Respiratory aerosols and droplets are released when someone talks, breaths, sings, sneezes or coughs. But the main difference is size.
Respiratory droplets are bigger – between 5 and 10 microns in diameter. (For perspective, a human hair is typically 60 to 120 microns wide.)
“If you have droplets that come out of a person, they generally go down within 6 feet,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
But aerosols (aka droplet nuclei) are smaller – less than 5 microns in diameter, according to the World Health Organization.
“Aerosol means the droplets don’t drop immediately,” Fauci said. “They hang around for a period of time.”
This becomes “very relevant” when you are indoors and there is poor ventilation, he said.
Multiple case studies suggest coronavirus can spread well beyond 6 feet through airborne transmission, such as during choir practices, said Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, chief clinical officer of Providence Health System.
In Washington state, for example, 53 members of a choir fell sick and two people died after one member attended rehearsals and later tested positive for Covid-19.
Last July, 239 scientists backed a letter urging public health agencies to recognize the potential for aerosolized spread.
“There is significant potential for inhalation exposure to viruses in microscopic respiratory droplets (microdroplets) at short to medium distances (up to several meters, or room scale), and we are advocating for the use of preventive measures to mitigate this route of airborne transmission,” the letter said.
The Crisis Text Line is available texting to 741741. Trained volunteers and crisis counselors are staffed 24/7, and the service is free.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Disaster Distress Helpline provides 24/7, 365-day-a-year crisis counseling and support to people experiencing emotional distress related to disasters. Call 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
For health care professionals and essential workers, For the Frontlines offers free 24/7 crisis counseling and support for workers dealing with stress, anxiety, fear or isolation related to coronavirus.
For more resources, check out CNN’s guide to giving and getting help during the pandemic.
More than 40% of US adults have at least one underlying condition that can put them at higher risk of severe complications, according to the CDC.
Those conditions include obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, according to the CDC.
People who have cancer, an organ transplant, sickle cell anemia, poorly controlled HIV or any autoimmune disorder are also at higher risk.
Covid-19 patients with pre-existing conditions — regardless of their age — are 6 times more likely to hospitalized and 12 times more likely to die from the disease than those who had no pre-existing conditions, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said.
While young, healthy people are less likely to die from Covid-19, many are suffering long-term effects from the disease.
Unvaccinated people from different households in a car should wear face masks, said Dr. Aaron Hamilton of the Cleveland Clinic.
“You should also wear one if you’re rolling down your window to interact with someone at a drive-thru or curbside pickup location,” Hamilton said.
It’s also smart to keep the windows open to help ventilate the car and add another layer of safety, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Yes, that’s a good idea because cell phones are basically “petri dishes in our pockets” when you think about how many surfaces you touch before touching your phone.
You should regularly disinfect your mobile phone anyway, with or without a coronavirus pandemic.
“There’s probably quite a lot of microorganisms on there, because you’re holding them against your skin, you are handling them all the time, and also you’re speaking into them,” said Mark Fielder, a professor of medical microbiology at Kingston University.
“And speaking does release droplets of water just in normal speech. So it’s likely that a range of microbes – including Covid-19, should you happen to be infected with that virus – might end up on your phone.”
Watch the best ways to disinfect your cell phone here.
There are certainly risks if you’re not vaccinated.
Coronavirus often spreads more easily indoors rather than outdoors — especially if you’re indoors for an extended period of time.
Researchers have also found that heavy breathing and singing can propel aerosolized viral particles farther and increase the risk of transmission.
During one fitness instructor workshop, about 30 participants with no symptoms trained intensely for four hours, according to research published by the CDC. Eight participants later tested positive, and more than 100 new cases of coronavirus were traced back to that fitness workshop.
To help mitigate the risk, many gyms are limiting capacity or requiring masks.
And while health experts have recommended staying 6 feet away from others, it’s smart to keep even more distance than that at the gym.
“With all the heavy breathing, you may even want to double the usual 6 feet to 12 feet, just to be safe,” CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said.
Doctors say wearing eye protection (in addition to face masks) could help some people, but it’s not necessary for everyone.
Teachers who have younger students in the classroom are “likely to be in environments where children might pull down their masks, or not be very compliant with them,” epidemiologist Saskia Popescu said. “There is concern that you could get respiratory droplets in the eyes.”
If you’re a health care worker or taking care of someone at home who has coronavirus, it’s smart to wear eye protection, said Dr. Thomas Steinemann, clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
(Note: Regular glasses or sunglasses aren’t enough, because they leave too many gaps around the eyes.)
But if you’re vaccinated or not in a high-risk situation, wearing goggles isn’t necessary.
While it’s still possible to get Covid-19 through the eyes, that scenario is less likely than getting it through your nose or mouth, Steinemann said.
He said if a significant number of people were getting coronavirus through their eyes, doctors would probably see more Covid-19 patients with conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye (though having pink eye doesn’t necessarily mean you have coronavirus).
The CDC does not recommend using plastic face shields for everyday activities or as a substitute for face masks. There are a few exceptions, such as for those who are hearing-impaired and rely on lip-reading or those who have physical or mental health conditions that would be exacerbated by wearing a cloth face mask.
“Cloth face coverings are a critical preventive measure and are most essential in times when social distancing is difficult,” the CDC says.
Clinical and laboratory studies show cloth face coverings reduce the spray of droplets when worn over the nose and mouth – what the CDC refers to as “source control.” And many people are contagious even when they don’t have any symptoms and don’t know they’re infected.
Face shields worn in addition to masks can provide an added layer of protection and can also help people stop touching their faces. Workers who are around people for long periods of time, such as grocery store workers or hospital personnel, may want to wear face shields in addition to masks, to increase their protection.
If someone must use a face shield without a mask, the CDC says the shield “should wrap around the sides of the wearer’s face and extend to below the chin. Disposable face shields should only be worn for a single use. Reusable face shields should be cleaned and disinfected after each use.”
First, make sure the top of your mask fits snugly against your skin. Then put your glasses over the snug-fitting top portion of your mask.
If that doesn’t do the trick, soap and water can create a barrier that prevents glasses from fogging up. Here’s how.
Yes. And the increased risk applies to cancer patients of all ages, the CDC says.
“Having cancer currently increases your risk of severe illness from COVID-19,” the CDC says. “At this time, it is not known whether having a history of cancer increases your risk.”
Researchers found that patients whose cancer was getting worse or spreading were more than five times more likely to die in a month if they caught Covid-19.
But there are steps cancer patients can take to stay as healthy as possible:
Technically it can, but HVAC (heating/ventilation/air conditioning) systems are not thought to be a significant factor in the spread of coronavirus.
Many modern air conditioning systems will either filter out or dilute the virus. Ventilation systems with highly effective filters are a key way to eliminate droplets from the air, said Harvard environmental health researcher Joseph Gardner Allen.
Filters are rated by a MERV system – their “minimum efficiency reporting value” that specifies their ability to trap tiny particles. The MERV ratings go from 1 to 20. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
HEPA filters have the highest MERV ratings, between 17 and 20. HEPA filters are used by hospitals to create sterile rooms for surgeries and to control infectious diseases. They’re able to remove 99.97% of dust, pollen, mold, bacteria and other airborne particles as small as 0.3 microns.
For context, this coronavirus is thought to be between 0.06 to 1.4 microns in size.
But “HEPA filtration is not always going to be feasible or practical,” Allen said. “But there are other filters that can do the job. What is recommended now by the standard setting body for HVAC is a MERV 13 filter.”
High-efficiency filters in the 13-to-16 MERV range are often used in hospitals, nursing homes, research labs and other places where filtration is important.
“If you’re an owner of a home, building or mall, you want to have someone to assess your system and install the largest MERV number filter the system can reliably handle without dropping the volume of air that runs through it,” advised Erin Bromage, an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
“In addition, virtually all modern air conditioning systems in commercial buildings have a process called makeup air where they bring in air from outside and condition it and bring it inside,” Bromage said. “It’s worse in regards to energy, but the more outside air we bring in, the more dilution of the virus we have and then the safer you are.”
Asymptomatic describes a person who is infected but does not have symptoms. With Covid-19, asymptomatic carriers can still easily infect others without knowing it. So if you’re infected but don’t feel sick, you could still get others very sick.
Some medical professionals differentiate between truly asymptomatic carriers – those who don’t currently have and will never have symptoms – from “pre-symptomatic” carriers – those who don’t have symptoms now, but will get them later. But the general public often uses the term “asymptomatic” to describe both categories of infected people.
Regardless of which term you use, researchers have found that about half of coronavirus transmissions happen between people who don’t have any symptoms. And in some cases, people are more contagious before they start showing symptoms.
The odds of transmitting coronavirus through sex hasn’t been thoroughly studied, though it has been found to exist in men’s semen.
But we do know Covid-19 is a highly contagious respiratory illness that can spread via saliva, coughs, sneezes, talking or breathing — with or without symptoms of illness.
So three Harvard physicians examined the likelihood of getting or giving Covid-19 during sex and made several recommendations.
For partners who haven’t been isolating together, they should wear masks and avoid kissing, the authors write.
In addition to wearing masks, people who have sex with partners outside of their home should also shower before and after; avoid sex acts that involve the oral transmission of bodily fluids; clean up the area afterward with soap or alcohol wipes to reduce their likelihood of infection.
Earlier in this pandemic, scientists didn’t know how easily this new virus spreads between people without symptoms, nor did they know how long infectious particles could linger in the air. There was also a shortage of N95 respirators and face masks among health care workers who were quickly overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.
But since then, the CDC, the former US Surgeon General and other doctors have changed their recommendations and are now urging the widespread use of face masks.
The CDC now says the public needs to “cover your mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others.”
“Everyone should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public, for example to the grocery store or to pick up other necessities,” the CDC said.
Scientists have made many recent discoveries about the new coronavirus, including:
In other words, it’s not just people who are sneezing and coughing who can spread coronavirus. It’s often people who look completely normal and don’t have a fever.
Doctors say getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent coronavirus infection.
If you’re not vaccinated, it’s best to take the stairs if you can. But if you can’t, emergency room physician Dr. Leana Wen offers several tips:
For those not fully vaccinated, try to avoid public restrooms if you can, said microbiologist Ali Nouri, president of the Federation of American Scientists. But he acknowledged that’s not always possible: “Sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go.”
Close contact with others is the most significant risk in a public restroom, Nouri said. So if there’s a single-person bathroom available that doesn’t have multiple stalls, using that might be best.
If you do use a multi-stall public restroom, Nouri offers the following tips:
“It’s probably safe if you’re not at home,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen said. She suggested leaving the windows open to improve ventilation and asking the cleaners to use your own cleaning supplies so they don’t bring items that have been in other people’s houses.
That’s “not a great idea,” said Dr. Joseph Vinetz, a professor of infectious diseases at Yale School of Medicine. “We have no evidence about that.”
“If there’s a metal piece in an N95 or surgical mask and even staples, you can’t microwave them,” he said. “It’ll blow up.”
Vinetz said cloth masks can be washed and reused, and even disposable masks can be reused if you let them sit for several days.
To disinfect masks that you can’t wash, Vinetz recommends leaving them in a clean, safe place in your home for a few days. After that, it should no longer be infectious, as this coronavirus is known to survive on hard surfaces for only up to three days.
Doctors strongly recommend performing CPR when someone needs it.
You could be hundreds of times more likely to save that dying person’s life than you are to die from Covid-19 if you contract it after performing CPR, according to a report published by a group of Seattle emergency room physicians in the journal Circulation.
But it’s important to act quickly for CPR to be effective.
“The chance of survival goes down by 10% for every minute without CPR,” said Dr. Comilla Sasson, vice president for science and innovation in emergency cardiovascular care at the American Heart Association. “It’s a 10-minute window to death in many cases.”
If you’re not certified in CPR, performing chest compressions could also buy more time until help arrives. Bystanders should “provide high-quality chest compressions by pushing hard and fast in the middle of the victim’s chest, with minimal interruptions,” the American Heart Association said.
If you’re not sure how “fast” to do to those chest compressions, singing any of these popular songs will help you get the right rhythm.
Randomly spraying open places is largely a waste of time, health experts say.
It can actually do more harm than good. “Spraying disinfectants can result in risks to the eyes, respiratory or skin irritation,” the World Health Organization said.
“Spraying or fumigation of outdoor spaces, such as streets or marketplaces, is also not recommended to kill the COVID-19 virus or other pathogens because disinfectant is inactivated by dirt and debris, and it is not feasible to manually clean and remove all organic matter from such spaces,” the WHO said.
“Moreover, spraying porous surfaces, such as sidewalks and unpaved walkways, would be even less effective.” Besides, the ground isn’t typically a source of infection, the WHO said.
And once the disinfectant wears off, an infected person could easily contaminate the surface again.
Any large gathering can increase the spread because this coronavirus is transmissible by talking or even just breathing. Carriers of the virus can be contagious even if they don’t have symptoms.
And when people are “shouting and cheering loudly, that does produce a lot of droplets and aerosolization that can spread the virus to people,” said Dr. James Phillips, a physician and assistant professor at George Washington University Hospital.
So doctors and officials say its important to get vaccinated or wear a face mask and try to keep your distance from others as much as possible.
No. The US Food and Drug Administration says you don’t need to wash fresh produce with soap and water, but you should rinse it with plain water.
But it’s still important to wash your hands with soap and water frequently because we often touch our faces without realizing it.
You don’t have to worry about getting coronavirus by “eating” it, though. Even if coronavirus does get into your food, your stomach acid would kill it, said Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University.
This “Contact tracing 101” article explains how contact tracing works, who can get hired, and how contact tracing has helped quash previous outbreaks.
But the US hasn’t been doing nearly enough contact tracing, experts say. Here’s why.
Hot water is best for killing bacteria and viruses in your laundry. But you don’t want to use that kind of scalding hot water on your skin.
Warm water is perfectly fine for washing your hands — as long as you wash them thoroughly (like this) and for at least 20 seconds. (To time yourself, you can hum the “Happy Birthday” song twice or sing a couple of verses from any of these hit songs from the past several decades.)
Cold water will also work, “but you have to make sure you work really vigorously to get a lather and get everything soapy and bubbly,” said chemist Bill Wuest, an associate professor at Emory University. To do that, you might need to sing “Happy Birthday” three times instead of twice.
“Warm water with soap gets a much better lather – more bubbles,” Wuest said. “It’s an indication that the soap is … trying to encapsulate the dirt and the bacteria and the viruses in them.”
Yes you can, said Dr. Joseph Vinetz, an infectious diseases professor at Yale School of Medicine.
To disinfect masks that you can’t wash, Vinetz recommends leaving them in a clean, safe place in your home for a few days. After that, it should no longer be infectious, as this coronavirus is known to survive on hard surfaces for only up to three days.
You can reuse cloth masks, too. Just launder them between each use on a high-heat setting.
Not necessarily. Antibodies are a body’s response to bacteria or viruses. But it’s not clear whether having antibodies means you have long-term protection from getting reinfected.
“The thing we don’t know yet is what is the relationship between the level of antibody and the degree of your protection,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Snapchat’s “Good Luck America” show.
“So you may be positive for an antibody, but not enough to protect you.”
There’s also a risk that some antibody tests might confuse the novel coronavirus with other coronaviruses, like the ones that cause the common cold.
Please don’t. The CDC advises using hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Vodka typically contains between 35% and 46% percent alcohol.
If the stores are out of hand sanitizer and you want to make your own, the Nebraska Medical Center offers this recipe:
What you’ll need:
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, stir isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel together until well blended.
Add 8-10 drops of scented essential oil (optional, but nice). Stir.
Pour the homemade hand sanitizer into an empty container and seal. Write “hand sanitizer” on a piece of masking tape and attach to the bottle.
This is not a good time to be vaping or smoking anything, including weed.
“Vaping affects your lungs at every level. It affects the immune function in your nasal cavity by affecting cilia, which push foreign things out,” said Prof. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Research Control and Education at University of California San Francisco.
When you vape, “the ability of your upper airways to clear viruses is compromised,” Glantz said.
Tobacco smokers are at especially high risk. In a study from China, where the first Covid-19 outbreak occurred, smokers were 14 times more likely to develop severe complications than non-smokers.
Even occasionally smoking marijuana can put you at greater risk.
“What happens to your airways when you smoke cannabis is that it causes some degree of inflammation, very similar to bronchitis, very similar to the type of inflammation that cigarette smoking can cause,” said pulmonologist Dr. Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association.
“Now you have some airway inflammation, and you get an infection on top of it. So yes, your chance of getting more complications is there.”
Coronavirus isn’t just infecting young people. It’s killing young, healthy people as well.
We’ve reported many stories about young people getting severely sick with or dying from coronavirus.
Dimitri Mitchell, 18, admits he had a “false sense of security.” But he was later hospitalized with coronavirus and now wants everyone to take it seriously.
“I just want to make sure everybody knows that no matter what their age is, it can seriously affect them. And it can seriously mess them up, like it messed me up,” the Iowa teen said.
“Four days in, the really bad symptoms started coming along. I started having really bad outbreaks, like sweating, and my eyes were really watery. I was getting warmer and warmer, and I was super fatigued. … I would start experiencing the worst headaches I’ve ever felt in my life. They were absolutely horrible.”
Eventually, the teen had to be hospitalized. His mother said she worried he might “fall asleep and never wake up.”
Mitchell is now recovering, but has suffered from long-term effects.
“I just hope everybody’s responsible, because it’s nothing to joke about,” he said. “It’s a real problem, and I want everybody to make sure they’re following social distancing guidelines and the group limits. And just listen to all the rules and precautions and stay up to date with the news and make sure they’re informed.”
No. That’s just a hoax going around the internet.
“The theory that 5G might compromise the immune system and thus enable people to get sick from corona is based on nothing,” said Eric van Rongen, chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Learn more about how 5G really works and why this hoax makes no sense.
Ideally, you should limit your children’s potential exposures to coronavirus and work out the safest plan possible with your ex.
The problem: Some state and county family courts might be closed, or open only for emergencies involving abuse or endangerment. So it might be difficult to formally modify pre-existing custody agreements.
But some states may be offering some flexibility during the pandemic. And there may be creative solutions, such as spending more time with one parent now in exchange for extra time with the other parent after the pandemic ends.
It may be difficult to know whether your loved one has coronavirus or another illness. So it’s critical to play it safe and not infect yourself and, in turn, others. The CDC suggests:
Fatigue, fever, dry cough, difficulty breathing and the loss of taste or smell are some of the symptoms of Covid-19.
Symptoms can appear anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks after exposure, the CDC says. But some people get no symptoms at all and can infect others without knowing it.
The illness varies in its severity. And while many people can recover at home just fine, some — including young, previously healthy adults — are suffering long-term symptoms.
Yes, you can make both at home.
“Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted” if you’re trying to kill coronavirus on a non-porous surface, the CDC said.
The CDC’s recipe calls for diluting 5 tablespoons (or ⅓ cup) of bleach per gallon of water, or 4 teaspoons of bleach per quart of water.
You can also make your own hand sanitizer. The Nebraska Medical Center – famous for its biocontainment unit and treatment of Ebola patients – offers this recipe:
What you’ll need:
Directions:
In a mixing bowl, stir isopropyl alcohol and aloe vera gel together until well blended.
Add 8-10 drops of scented essential oil (optional, but nice). Stir.
Pour the homemade hand sanitizer into an empty container and seal.
Write “hand sanitizer” on a piece of masking tape and attach to the bottle.
An employee can be fired if they don’t show up to work and don’t have sick leave that would cover the absence, says Krista Slosburg, an employment attorney at Stokes Lawrence in Seattle.
But there are exceptions. Employers who make workers with Covid-19 come in may be violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA] regulations, said Donna Ballman, who heads an employee advocacy law firm in Florida.
If you work in a city or state that requires sick leave and you use it, you can‘t be terminated or disciplined.
But there is no federal mandate that requires companies to offer paid sick leave, and almost a quarter of all US workers don’t get it, according to 2019 government data. Some state and local governments have passed laws that require companies to offer paid sick leave.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) can sometimes protect a worker’s job in the event they get sick, but it won’t guarantee they get paid while they’re out.
Employee advocates urge businesses to consider the special circumstances of the Covid-19, and some already have
The Society for Human Resource Management recommends companies “actively encourage sick employees to stay home, send symptomatic employees home until they are able to return to work safely, and require employees returning from high-risk areas to telework during the incubation period (of 14 days).”
If a manager feels an employee’s illness poses a direct threat to colleagues’ safety, the manager may be able to insist the employee be evaluated by a doctor, said Alka Ramchandani-Raj, an attorney specializing in workplace safety.
Since Covid-19 is a respiratory disease, many airlines require passengers to wear face masks during the flight, except for while eating or drinking.
Health experts suggest eating, drinking and using the restroom before getting on the plane, to eliminate the need to take off your mask or go into a cramped lavatory on board.
And always be mindful of where your hands have been, travel medicine specialist Dr. Richard Dawood said.
Airport handrails, door handles and airplane lavatory levers are notoriously dirty.
“It is OK to touch these things as long as you then wash or sanitize your hands before contaminating your face, touching or handling food,” Dawood said.
“Hand sanitizers are great. So are antiseptic hand wipes, which you can also use to wipe down armrests, remote controls at your seat and your tray table.”
Stay home. Call your doctor to talk about your symptoms and let them know you’re coming for an appointment so they can prepare for your visit, the CDC says.
Only a Covid-19 test can diagnose you with coronavirus, but if you suspect you have it, isolate yourself at home.
Many patients with coronavirus are able to recover at home. If you’ve been diagnosed and your illness is worsening, seek medical attention promptly. You may need to be monitored in a hospital.
No. Those products work on surfaces but can be dangerous to your body.
There are some chemical disinfectants, including bleach, 75% ethanol, peracetic acid and chloroform, that may kill the virus on surfaces.
But if the virus is already in your body, putting those substances on your skin or under your nose won’t kill it, the World Health Organization says. And those chemicals can harm you.
There’s no evidence from the outbreak that eating garlic, sipping water every 15 minutes or taking vitamin C will protect people from the new coronavirus. Same goes for using essential oils or colloidal silver.
Experts said cuts in federal funding for public health and problems with early testing forced the US to play catch-up.
Problems with public health infrastructure: Two years ago, the CDC stopped funding epidemic prevention activities in 39 countries, including China. This happened because the Trump administration refused to allocate money to a program that started during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
Former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden warned that move “would significantly increase the chance an epidemic will spread without our knowledge and endanger lives in our country and around the world.”
Problems with the testing: Malfunctions, shortages and delays in availability have all contributed to the slowdown.
In the first few weeks of the outbreak in the US, the CDC was the only facility in the country that could confirm test results — even though a World Health Organization test became available around the same time.
Some test kits that were sent around the country were flawed — a move that put the US behind about “four to five weeks,” says Dr. Rob Davidson, executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare.
No. There are some interesting coincidences in the 1981 fiction novel, which says “a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread around the globe” around the year 2020. Modern editions of the book call the biological strain “Wuhan-400,” and the current coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China.
But there are important differences between the book and reality. The original version of the book called the strain the “Gorki-400,” in reference to a Russian locality, before it was later changed to the “Wuhan-400.” In the book, the virus was man-made, while scientists believe the novel coronavirus started in animals and jumped to humans. And in the book, the virus had a 100% mortality rate. Early estimates of the mortality rate for this coronavirus outbreak range from 2-4%.
Additional reporters:
Melissa Mahtani, Scottie Andrew, Katie Hunt and Harmeet Kaur
Design and development:
Curt Merrill, Allie Schmitz and Sean O’Key
Editorial oversight:
Saeed Ahmed
