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New COVID vaccine for 2024, isolation guidelines, free tests and more questions, answered
Think COVID is a thing of the past? Think again.
After a summer surge of the virus, and as cold season approaches, attention is back on the illness, prompting questions about what to do if you test positive and how to protect yourself.
Here’s what to know for fall 2024:
New COVID vaccine
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for the 2024 fall season.
Moderna and Pfizer’s shots were revised this year to target the KP.2 variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as part of a now-annual process undertaken by the FDA and health authorities around the world to update the vaccines to protect against newer strains of the virus.
Both Moderna and Pfizer say they expect the first shots from their vaccines to become available in the coming days around the country. Another updated vaccine from Novavax is also expected to get the FDA’s authorization this year.
Who should get the updated COVID vaccine?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are recommending that all Americans ages 6 months and older get a shot of the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine to protect against another expected surge of the virus this fall and winter.
For most people, the CDC recommends getting a flu shot in September or October each year, which can be given at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccines
COVID guidelines 2024
In March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it was no longer asking Americans to stay home for five days after testing positive — but they did provide updated recommendations for preventing the spread of infection for COVID and other respiratory viruses.
For those sick, the CDC now suggests:
- Staying home until their fever has disappeared for at least 24 hours without relying on fever-lowering medications and their symptoms are improving
- Masking for five days after they are no longer staying home
- Distancing from others
- Improving ventilation around others
“Enhanced precautions are especially important to protect those most at risk for severe illness, including those over 65 and people with weakened immune systems,” according to the CDC.
How long am I contagious with COVID in 2024?
People with COVID-19 can be infectious from one to two days before and up to eight to 10 days after symptoms begin, according to the CDC.
People who are asymptomatic, or have no symptoms, can also transmit the virus, according to the CDC.
Free COVID tests
Starting in late September, Americans will be able to get free COVID test kits mailed to their homes.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that oversees the testing, has not announced an exact date for ordering to begin. But according to COVIDtests.gov, U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens.
The tests will detect current virus strains and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season when family and friends gather for celebrations, an HHS spokesperson previously said.
What medicine to take for COVID
Most people with COVID-19 have mild illness and can recover at home, according to the CDC.
You can treat symptoms with over-the-counter medicines such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
For those more likely to get very sick, the FDA has authorized or approved several antiviral medications, including:
- Nirmatrelvir with Ritonavir, also known as Paxlovid, an oral medication for adults and children 12 years and older
- Remdesivir, known as Veklury, an intravenous infusion done at a healthcare setting for adults and children
- Molnupiravir, or Lagevrio, an oral medication for adults only
Patients should work with their healthcare providers to determine the best treatment option for them.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.