COVID-19 is on the rise this summer. What to know, how to stay safe
LA TimesIt is not your imagination — more people this summer are getting COVID-19. The number of coronavirus test results reported to the California Department of Public Health has also doubled over the last month, a possible indication that more people are getting sick — or are at least concerned they have been exposed to the virus. The updated COVID-19 booster shot became available in September, but most people haven’t gotten it. The plan for September is to roll out a reformulated COVID-19 vaccine designed against the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 to replace last September’s version, which was targeted against a different strain, BA.5. Now that Paxlovid, an anti-COVID oral drug that can be taken after infection, has been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, higher-risk people can talk to their healthcare providers about getting Paxlovid before, say, an overseas trip if they think it’ll be hard to obtain the drug later.