Compilation of Links for
Coronavirus in USA

Copyright 2020-2024 by Ronald B. Standler
No copyright claimed for quotations.
No copyright claimed for works of the U.S. Government.
Copyright claimed for compilation of links and my text.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I initially wrote and revised this webpage during 24 March to 14 June 2020, as a guide to overwhelming amounts of information on the coronavirus epidemic, which was then a novel disease. After many people in the USA refused to be vaccinated and refused to wear a mask, I made a major revision of this webpage on 21 August 2021.

This webpage contains my collection of links to resources on COVID-19. It is absolutely imperative that we stop the COVID-19 epidemic, before hospitals are overwhelmed, before medical supplies are exhausted, and before more people needlessly die from a preventable disease.

A disclaimer: I am not a physician. My educational background is in physics (Ph.D. 1977). I earned a law degree and I am licensed to practice law in Massachusetts since 1998, although I do not practice in the area of health law. But since 1971, I have occasionally done searches of medical literature for my scholarly research projects.

Terse History

Sometime in mid-November 2019, a new pneumonia originated in Wuhan, China. The Chinese government concealed the new disease until the end of December 2019. On 8 January 2020. the Chinese government announced that the cause of this new disease is a coronavirus. The World Health Organization uses the name COVID-19 to refer to the disease caused by this novel coronavirus.

COVID-19 can be transmitted in two ways:
  1. breathing droplets ejected by an infected person who coughs or sneezes.

  2. touching an infected surface. The virus can remain viable for hours on metal or plastic surfaces.

Mitigation Measures

  1. Appropriate injections of either Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccine, followed by booster immunization at least once a year. See FDA/CDC recommendations below.

  2. Always wear a face mask when in public places. On 14 Jan 2022 the CDC said N95 masks were best.

  3. At least six feet (i.e., two meters) of space between adjacent people, called "social distancing".

  4. Stay at home as much as possible.   Avoid large gatherings of people (e.g., workplaces, restaurants, theaters, churches, schools and universities, airports, cruise ships, sporting events, concerts, conferences, conventions, exhibitions, political rallies, festivals, parades, large weddings, etc.), because large groups help spread viruses. Fully vaccinated individuals are themselves at lower risk in large gatherings, however they can still have an asymptomatic infection and transmit their virus to unvaccinated people.

  5. Both frequent hand washing and not touching fingers to one's face. If soap and water are not available for washing hands, then use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Full vaccination is the most important mitigation measure. On 16 July 2021, Dr. Walensky, head of the CDC, reviewed the data on new cases/day, and concluded: "This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated." White House.

Face masks and social distancing help avoid the transmission of viruses between people.

Measures 2-5 will also help prevent spread of influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, in addition to helping slow the spread of COVID-19.

The government sometimes suggests relaxed mitigation measures, especially allowing large gatherings. But we can help prevent the spread of coronavirus by using full mitigation measures whenever possible. Large gatherings for recreation or entertainment are not worth risking coronavirus infections, which can kill people. In summary, more mitigation measures means fewer new cases/day, fewer deaths, and possible control of the epidemic. When we relax mitigation measures, we are inviting the next variant to again overwhelm us, or allowing current variants to again surge.

Despite the desire of Americans to return to normal that existed before coronavirus, it is still true that maximum protection from coronavirus requires maximum mitigation measures. Maximum protection is especially important for patients with comorbidities or for people who are unvaccinated.

When people are hospitalized with coronavirus, they then wish they had used more mitigation measures — been fully vaccinated and boosted, worn a mask, avoided large gatherings, etc. But after infection, it is too late to prevent infection. The lesson to be learned from their regret is to consistently use maximum mitigation measures.

On 16 April 2023, The Washington Post reported:
... coronavirus has retreated from public view as the pandemic winds down. But retreat is not the same thing as eradication: Federal health officials say that covid remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States, tied to about 250 deaths daily, on average, mostly among the old and immunocompromised. Few Americans are treating it as a leading killer, however — in part because they are not hearing about those numbers, don't trust them or don't see them as relevant to their own lives.
Dan Diamond, "Covid is still a leading cause of death as the virus recedes," Washington Post, 16 April 2023.

The above-quoted Washington Post article cited data that coronavirus kills approximately four times more people in the USA than automobile accidents. We have legal requirements for both wearing seat belts and annual automobile safety inspections, but no legal requirement for coronavirus immunizations.

Links:

Facts About the Coronavirus Epidemic

The first death from coronavirus in the USA was on 6 February 2020. In May 2022. the official U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) coronavirus death toll exceeded a staggering one million.

coronavirus.gov  main webpage for U.S. citizens

Food & Drug Administration (FDA) press releases

At the end of March 2022, the White House created covid.gov to help Americans find treatment for coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has a website on test-to-treat that has a list of local clinics that can prescribe and provide antiviral drugs.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) coronavirus main webpage

CDC press releases

official number of cases and deaths from coronavirus in the USA CDC   This is a new webpage, created to replace the DataTracker that ended in May 2023.

Governments test wastewater (i.e., sewage) to detect SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA at over 1400 testing sites in the USA. Summary of wastewater results.

The CDC has a webpage about new respiratory viruses, including coronavirus variants.   The CDC also has a webpage with weekly information on influenza.   OBSOLETE: CDC weekly summary of COVID-19 activity, issued on Friday afternoon, beginning 4 April 2020 and ending 3 March 2023.

The CDC has a webpage on percent of adult Amricans who have received current coronavirus vaccine.

Symptoms of Coronavirus Infection

On 27 April 2020, the CDC published a list of six classic symptoms of COVID-19 that is updated:
  1. Cough,
  2. Shortness of breath, or difficulty breathing,
  3. Fever or Chills,
  4. Muscle or body aches,
  5. Sore throat,
  6. Recent loss of taste or smell.
The omicron variant may be more likely to produce upper respiratory symptoms (e.g., sneezing, nasal congestion, sore throat), making testing essential to distinguish omicron from colds or influenza.

Comorbidities

Comorbidities are risk factors for more severe COVID-19 and death from coronavirus. Common comorbidities include:
  1. elderly (i.e., age over 65 years),
  2. immunocompromised (e.g., cancer chemotherapy, recipient of transplanted organ, HIV/AIDS, use of corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive medications),
  3. pulmonary disease (e.g., COPD, smoking),
  4. cancer,
  5. cardiac disease,
  6. chronic kidney or liver disease,
  7. diabetes,
  8. obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2),
  9. pregnancy and recent pregnancy.
A combination of two or more comorbidities in one coronavirus patient increases the chance of death. Therefore, patients with multiple comorbidities should be very careful to always use maximum mitigation measures.   Link for laymen: CDC,   healthcare professionals: CDC.

International

Although my webpage links to coronavirus resources in the USA, readers may also find useful the World Health Organization (WHO) webpage on coronavirus. Beginning on 21 January 2020, the WHO issued daily situation reports on the novel coronavirus pandemic.   The WHO technical brief on omicron variant.

Booster Vaccinations

There has been an incremental series of authorizations and recommendations for doses of coronavirus vaccines. This series was necessary because of evolving knowledge about the vaccines.

Read the official FDA and CDC webpages about vaccinations, beginning August 2021:
  1. 12 Aug 2021: third dose of Pfizer or Moderna for immunocompromised patients, FDA press release

  2. 2 Sep 2021 and updated: immunocompromised patients, CDC Guidance

  3. 22-24 Sep 2021: Pfizer booster for
    1. all adults at least 65 years of age,
    2. individuals 18 through 64 years of age who are either:
      1. at high risk of severe COVID-19, or
      2. whose frequent institutional or occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 puts them at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe COVID-19.
    FDA and CDC press releases

  4. 20-21 Oct 2021: boosters for Moderna or J&J recipients, FDA and CDC press releases
    Boosters no longer need to be the same brand of vaccine as the primary vaccination.

  5. 19 Nov 2021: all adults who have second Pfizer or Moderna immunization are eligible for a booster,
    FDA and CDC press releases.

  6. 9 Dec 2021: Pfizer booster for 16- and 17-year old recipients, FDA press release

  7. 3-4 Jan 2022: Pfizer booster for 12- to 15-year old recipients. Further, the interval between the second dose of Pfizer vaccine and first booster is shortened to five months for everyone at least 12 years of age. Also, third dose of Pfizer for 5-11 year old immunocompromised children (e.g., because of solid organ transplants), four weeks after second dose.
    FDA and CDC press releases

  8. 5 Jan 2022: Pfizer booster for 12- to 17-year old recipients, CDC press release

  9. 7 Jan 2022: booster now available five months after second dose of Moderna vaccine, FDA press release

  10. 29 March 2022: Second booster vaccination available to all adults at least 50 years of age, and all immunocompromised patients at least 12 years of age. For both groups of patients, the second booster is given "at least 4 months after receipt of a first booster dose". FDA and CDC press releases

  11. 17 May 2022: FDA approves Pfizer booster for 5 to 11 year old children. FDA press release.

  12. 17 June 2022: FDA approves Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for children "down to 6 months of age". These two vaccines were previously approved for children older than 5 years and for adults, so now everyone can receive the primary series of coronavirus vaccine. FDA and CDC press releases.

  13. 30 June 2022, the FDA ordered vaccine manufacturers to include omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 in a new coronavirus booster to be available sometime after September 2022. FDA.

  14. On 13 July 2022, the FDA approved an Emergency Use Authorization for Novavax as primary series of immunizations in people at least 18 years of age. FDA;   CDC press releases. Novavax is built on protein subunit vaccine technology, while Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use messenger RNA.   On 22 August 2022, the CDC recommended Novavax for primary vaccination of people aged 12 to 17 years.

  15. On 31 August 2022, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for Moderna's and Pfizer's new bivalent booster that contains messenger RNA for both the original strain of coronavirus and the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. The Pfizer booster is approved for people at least 12 years of age, the Moderna for people at least 18 years of age. The new booster is given at least two months after the previous coronavirus immunization (i.e., either a booster or the second dose of the primary series). The FDA press release says: "With today's authorization, the monovalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are not authorized as booster doses for individuals 12 years of age and older."   On 1 September 2022, the CDC endorsed the new boosters.

  16. On 12 October 2022, the FDA and CDC approved the bivalent boosters for children. Pfizer is now approved for ages 5 years and higher, Moderna for ages 6 years and higher.

  17. On 8 December 2022, FDA approved both Pfizer and Moderna bivalent boosters for everyone more than 6 months of age.

  18. On 18 April 2023 the FDA approved a second bivalent booster — Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent (original plus omicron BA.4/BA.5 strains) mRNA vaccines — for either:
    1. People at least 65 years of age "may receive one additional dose at least four months following their initial bivalent dose" or
    2. "Most individuals with certain kinds of immunocompromise who have received a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine may receive a single additional dose of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months following a dose of a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine".
    3. Immunocompromised people may receive a third or subsequent booster "at the discretion of, and at intervals determined by, their healthcare provider."
    Furthermore, currently unvaccinated people can receive the bivalent vaccine:
    1. "Most unvaccinated individuals may receive a single dose of a bivalent vaccine, rather than multiple doses of the original monovalent mRNA vaccines."
    2. "Children 6 months through 5 years of age who are unvaccinated may receive a two-dose series of the Moderna bivalent vaccine (6 months through 5 years of age) OR a three-dose series of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine (6 months through 4 years of age)."
    3. Unvaccinated "children who are [at least] 5 years of age may receive two doses of the Moderna bivalent vaccine or a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent vaccine."
    "The monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States."

    On 19 April 2023, the CDC endorsed the new FDA approval. "CDC recommends that everyone ages 6 years and older receive an updated (bivalent) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of whether they previously completed their (monovalent) primary series." However, "Alternatives to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines remain available for people who cannot or will not receive an mRNA vaccine. CDC's recommendations for use of (monovalent) Novavax or Johnson & Johnson's Janssen COVID-19 vaccines were not affected by the changes made today."

  19. On 16 June 2023, the FDA ordered manufacturers (e.g., Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax) to include only omicron subvariant XBB 1.5 in the new vaccine for Autumn 2023.

  20. On 11 September 2023, the FDA approved the new monovalent vaccine that protects against Omicron subvariant XBB1.5. "Individuals 5 years of age and older regardless of previous vaccination are eligible to receive a single dose of an updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months since the last dose of any COVID-19 vaccine." Children under 5 years of age will receive one to three doses, depending on previous coronavirus vaccinations and the manufacturer of the vaccine. "... the bivalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are no longer authorized for use in the United States."   On 12 Sep 2023, the CDC recommended that all Americans over 6 months of age receive at least one dose of the new vaccine.

  21. On 3 October 2023, the FDA approved an updated Novavax vaccine for patients at least 12 years of age.

  22. On 28 February 2024, a CDC committee recommended adults at least 65 years of age should get a second dose of the XBB1.5 vaccine. There should be at least four months between doses of coronavirus vaccine. The second dose should be given before 1 June 2024, so it will not delay a first dose of a new vaccine to be given in October 2024. CDC;   Washington Post;   New York Times;   Associated Press.

Links to CDC webpages
when and how often to receive
coronavirus vaccines:

There is a bewildering, duplicative, and disorganized group of CDC webpages about when and how often to receive coronavirus vaccinations. These webpages are supposedly updated when necessary, but check the date of last revision on each page. Here are some links:

Where to receive coronavirus vaccine

Locations for coronavirus vaccine: Coronavirus immunizations are readily available in the USA from locations that provide other immunizations, such as pharmacies and medical clinics. Coronavirus immunizations in the USA are free for people with either private health insurance, Medicaid, or Medicare Part D. Uninsured patients can get free coronavirus immunizations, paid by HHS.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire state government webpage on coronavirus

Governor Sununu issued Executive Orders on coronavirus, beginning 13 March 2020, and ending 11 June 2021.

NH Health & Human Services (DHHS)
NH DHHS Health Alert Messages, beginning 21 January 2020

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Department of Public Health main page on coronavirus
COVID-19 Guidance and Directives
COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment
press releases related to COVID-19

Governor Baker's Orders on Coronavirus:
  1. State-of-Emergency to Respond to COVID-19, 10 March 2020.

  2. 23 March 2020 Order closing nonessential businesses and services, and prohibiting indoor gatherings of more than 10 people.   Definition of nonessential.

  3. Other orders on coronavirus, including recent items.

Massachusetts state courts response to COVID-19.

Coronavirus in Boston from Boston Public Health Commission.

News Media

Associated Press top stories homepage
recent AP articles on the coronavirus epidemic

The Washington Post homepage.
Washington Post coronavirus webpage with links to recent news articles.

The New York Times homepage
New York Times coronavirus webpage with links to recent news articles.

Politico webpage with links to their recent articles about coronavirus. Politico is a respected online news service about politics in the USA and Europe.
Copyright 2020-2024 by Ronald B. Standler

This document is at   http://www.rbs0.com/COVID19.htm
created 24 March 2020, revised 29 Feb 2024

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