Coronavirus Latest: Daily updates from NBC 5

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In the Know: Your Daily Coronavirus Update It's Wednesday, Sep. 21st Here are today's top stories. 1 Is The COVID Pandemic 'Over,' as Biden Says? Chicago Experts Weigh In After making headlines with comments that the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. is over, President Joe Biden is being taken to task by doctors who say that such language could paint an overly-rosy picture of the situation as the fall and winter months approach. "The pandemic is over," Biden said during an appearance on "60 Minutes" over the weekend. "We still have a problem with COVID, and we're still doing a lot of work on it, but the pandemic is over." While COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on a downward trajectory across much of the U.S., Chicago's top doctor says that more context is needed at a critical juncture in the fight against the virus. Read More → 2 New COVID Variants Gain Ground as BA.5 Cases Slow, CDC Says While the omicron subvariant BA.5 has been the dominant strain of COVID in the United States for several months, there are at least four other subvariants starting to gain ground in recent weeks. According to the latest estimates released by the CDC on Tuesday, the BA.5 subvariant is still responsible for 84.8% of COVID cases in the United States. That subvariant, which has been the dominant strain of COVID in the U.S. since early July, peaked at nearly 90% of cases at one point, but has slowly begun to decline as at least four other types of omicron begin to circulate in the population. Read More → 3 Do Omicron COVID Vaccine Booster Shots Protect Against Infection? Top Doc Explains How well will the new bivalent COVID booster shots protect against infection from the newest variants and mutations, including the now-dominant omicron subvariant BA.5? While health officials have said vaccines continue to show effective protection, particularly when it comes to severe outcomes of the virus, experts hope the newest shots could go even further. "One of the reasons we're really excited about this updated COVID vaccine is because, different than for the last year or so, we're back to having a match," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday. "So this updated vaccine – kind of like at the beginning those first vaccines were highly protective, we weren't seeing a lot of breakthrough… now again, while it is a good match, I would expect there to be significantly more protection against infection as well." Read More → 4 Illinois Coronavirus Updates: Booster Shot Side Effects, Long COVID Symptoms What should you expect for side effects with the new omicron-specific booster shots? What we know so far as many begin to get the added dose of the COVID vaccine. Plus, many are looking to see how long their COVID symptoms could last. But what exactly is long COVID and what can you expect? Read More → 5 Not Sure If Your Symptoms Are Long COVID or Something Else? Here's What to Know As respiratory infections rise, cold and flu season begins, allergy season persists and the BA.5 omicron subvariant continues its dominance, it can be hard to differentiate what exactly is behind your COVID symptoms — especially as some linger longer than others. The Chicago area has reported a sharp rise in child hospitalizations in recent weeks due to a variety of respiratory infections. Meanwhile, nearly two dozen Illinois counties remain at a high community level for COVID and allergy season continues to take its toll. "A lot of the viruses that are circulating now and increasing now are things that we didn't see for a couple of years because of COVID," said Dr. Isaac Ghinai, a medical director for the Chicago Department of Public Health. "Because there's of course less flu around, everybody's staying at home as well so there were really quiet years for some of these childhood respiratory infections, but they are common respiratory infections normally. So now they're recirculating and sometimes at higher levels than might be expected in years like this." Read More → 6 What to Expect With Possible Side Effects of the Bivalent COVID Vaccine Booster Shots With the arrival of the long-awaited COVID-19 booster shots geared to target BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants, many may be curious about its possible side effects as they prepare for another vaccination. Turns out, the new boosters may not be much different from your last dose. "We just don't have any data on this [yet], essentially giving two vaccines in one shot — but biologically, I just wouldn't expect the side effects, severity or the safety profile of the shots to be different from the current mRNA vaccines and boosters," Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and member of an independent advisory group to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told CNBC's Make It. 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