Coronavirus Latest: Daily updates from NBC 5

87°

In the Know: Your Daily Coronavirus Update It's Friday, Sep. 2nd Here are today's top stories. 1 Omicron-Specific Booster Critical to Avoiding Fall Surge, Chicago's Top Doc Says In each of the last two winters, COVID cases and hospitalizations have dramatically spiked in the state of Illinois, and Chicago's top doctor is warning that if uptake on a new booster vaccine is slow, then the city could potentially face a third consecutive year of surging cases. Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, pointed to the trends of the last two years when discussing the city's preparations for the fall and winter, and she says changes in mitigating habits on the part of residents could potentially pave the way for another increase in cases later this year. "In both of the last two winters we've had notable COVID surges during respiratory virus season," she said. "We also as people have relaxed against COVID, and there's less mask wearing broadly." Read More → 2 How Chicago is Preparing for New COVID Vaccine and Where You'll Find the Boosters With the final hurdles surrounding new booster shots of the COVID vaccine have yet to be cleared, Chicago is already preparing for distribution of the omicron-specific doses starting as early as next week. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized the new shots aimed at targeting the omicron variant and the now-dominant BA.5 subvariant and an influential Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel is expected to vote on recommendations for who should be eligible as early as Thursday. After that, the CDC has to give its own recommendations before shots can begin. "Coming soon after Labor Day, updated COVID-19 vaccines and these new, what are called bivalent boosters as you may know already, are targeted specifically toward the omicron subvariants, the BA.4 and the BA.5 that are what are circulating right now," said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady. "It's the first time we've had an updated COVID vaccine since the vaccine rollout." Read More → 3 Free At-Home COVID Tests From the Government Will be Suspended Tomorrow A program that delivers free at-home COVID tests to every household that orders one in the U.S. will come to an end Friday. The government announced last weekend that the program would be suspended due to a lack of funding. "Ordering through this program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn't provided additional funding to replenish the nation's stockpile of tests," a message on the website to order the tests read over the weekend. Read More → 4 Illinois Coronavirus Updates: New COVID Vaccine, Chicago's Top Doc Gives Update New COVID booster shots inched closer to distribution this week, but another critical step in the process will take place Thursday. What do we know about the shots and how effective are they? Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across Illinois today: Read More → 5 How Effective Are New COVID Booster Shots and Do You Need One? Here's What Experts Are Saying The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized new COVID booster shots aimed at targeting the omicron variant and the now-dominant BA.5 subvariant, but how effective are the new vaccines? Until now, COVID-19 vaccines have targeted the original coronavirus strain, even as wildly different mutants emerged. The new U.S. boosters are combination, or "bivalent," shots. They contain half that original vaccine recipe and half protection against the newest omicron versions, called BA.4 and BA.5, that are considered the most contagious yet. The combination aims to increase cross-protection against multiple variants. Read More → 6 What's Behind That Sore Throat? How to Know if It's COVID, Allergies, Strep or More Have a sore throat but aren't sure what's causing it? There are several possibilities that could be behind the symptom, with things like COVID, allergies and strep throat all leading to similar symptoms. Currently, allergy season is peaking in the Chicago area, bringing a rash of cold-like symptoms, with the peak expected to continue until the end of September for those particularly sensitive to ragweed. Read More → Got a tip or story idea? tips@nbcchicago.com Follow Unsubscribe | Unsubscribe from this mailing: WMAQ_coronavirus | Change email preferences | Privacy | Terms ©2021 Copyright NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations 30 Rockefeller Plaza - New York, NY 10112