COVID-19 Boosters and Vaccinations: November 2022
While the transmission of COVID-19 is relatively stable in Milwaukee County, new variants could change that. The long-dominating subvariant of Omicron, called BA.5, is now being passed by new subvariants. Less than 40% of cases across the U.S. are BA.5.
Dr. Ben Weston states that BQ 1 and BQ 1.1 have substantially displaced BA.5 as the dominant variant. He reminds us that the pandemic is considerably dynamic and urges everyone, especially those over the age of 65, to get their COVID bivalent booster. Getting boosted is the best defense against new mutations according to public health officials.
Along with new COVID variants, the community is also seeing an earlier than usual rise in influenza activity according to Dr. Weston. Along with COVID booster, he encourages people to also get their flu shots. Currently, in Milwaukee County, 61.6% of the overall population is completely vaccinated against COVID-19 and 58.8% have received at least one booster.