By Amir Mohammad
Your Health
Dr. Amir Mohammad
The US government plans to end public health emergency on May 11 for the COVID-19 pandemic. This will likely have huge implications, as federal COVID policies mandating free tests, treatments and vaccines will end.
Ending the emergency will also result in various regional and national policy changes. For example, COVID tests and treatments that are currently free to the public will be dependent on private insurance coverage, Medicare coverage, Medicaid coverage or no health insurance.
COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be covered for people with private insurance or Medicare or Medicaid coverage. However, they will likely have to pay out of pocket for COVID treatments, such as Paxlovid (an antiviral drug).
A recent study by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science investigated US mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control database and published their findings in the journal JAMA Network. The authors found:
– COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death for more than 940,000 people in the US, including over 1,300 deaths among children and young people 0-19 years old.
– Between August 2021 and July 2022, COVID-19 was a leading cause of death in children and young people in the US, ranking eighth overall.
– Deaths in children from COVID-19 were highest in the US during the delta and omicron waves.
Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that the agency is recommending a single annual COVID-19 vaccine, just like the annual flu shot. The idea is to make it simple for the general public instead of breaking things out into various age groups and risk factors. However, the formulation of this vaccine will be selected in June targeting the most threatening COVID-19 strains.
The Orange Health Department will continue its partnership with the state Department of Public Health in providing access to these vaccines for our residents. We will post our clinic timings and locations on our webpage.
While we continue to monitor COVID-19 and other illnesses in our town and provide obligatory public health services, one of our goals this year is to improve our outreach to the public. This will include surveying our residents and providing age-specific guidance and recommendations. I encourage our residents to reach out and share ideas in improving our living conditions.
Dr. Amir Mohammad is the director of public health for the town of Orange.