Weekly Update July 11, 2022 – A new coronavirus variant called BA.5 is fueling yet another wave of COVID infections across the globe.

July 15, 2022

Weekly COVID-19 deaths doubled in Los Angeles County over the last month, to 100 from 50 a week. This week, the CDC said BA.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S. accounting for more than 60 percent of cases. It is also the most transmissible variant to date.

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LA County covid deaths rising fast as ultra-contagious BA.5 fuels infection wave

Weekly COVID-19 deaths doubled in Los Angeles County over the last month, to 100 from 50 a week.

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FDA authorizes Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, a latecomer

The vaccine was authorized as a primary immunization series for adults, rather than a booster, which may limit its market at firs

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Stunning spread of BA.5 shows why this CA covid wave is so different

BA.5 variant making up an estimated 65% of new cases nationwide (for week-long period ending this past Saturday)

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New COVID variant BA.5 prompts higher infections and reinfections

A new coronavirus variant called BA.5 is fueling yet another wave of COVID infections across the globe. This week, the CDC said BA.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S. accounting for more than 60 percent of cases. It is also the most transmissible variant to date.

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Physicians say they need clearer guidance on prescribing Paxlovid amid concerns around COVID rebound

Six months after regulators issued an emergency use authorization for Paxlovid, physicians say they still have significant questions about prescribing guidelines for the leading treatment for high-risk COVID patients.

STAT spoke with providers who said they and their colleagues aren’t on the same page about when to prescribe Paxlovid or the criteria that separates those who need it from those who do not. They also said it is unclear whether they can give a second course when patients test positive again after taking Paxlovid, a phenomenon known as a rebound.

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Declining Mental Health: Toll of the Pandemic

In 2019, the C.D.C. estimated that 15.8 percent of American adults took prescription pills for mental health. Now, nearly a quarter do so.

Across the country, many psychologists and psychiatrists have been witnessing the pandemic’s mental health effects firsthand. They report practices filled to capacity, patients who are in significantly worse shape than before, or patients who had been stable for years, but who are now in need of medication, intensive outpatient treatment or hospitalization.

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