CDC Warns of Another 'Tripledemic' This Winter

Facts

• According to a modeling forecast released on Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID, RSV, and influenza will likely impact the US healthcare system simultaneously this fall and winter.¹
• The CDC predicts either staggered peaks of moderate flu, RSV, and COVID activity or possibly overlapping peaks of moderate COVID activity along with severe flu and RSV activity during this year's respiratory virus season.¹
• The CDC also expects the total number of hospitalizations from the 'tripledemic' to be similar to last year, which was higher than pre-pandemic levels.²
• Further, the CDC said that vaccines for all three respiratory viruses will be available this fall for the first time and encouraged people at higher risk of developing severe complications to get vaccinated.²
• The organization predicted that if only adults aged 65 and older get vaccinated, instead of everyone older than six months, nearly 200K more people would require hospitalizations, and 15K more may die.³
• In the last week of August, 18,871 patients were admitted to hospitals nationwide, up 9% on the previous week.⁴

Sources: ¹Abc news, ²Cdc, ³Austin american and ⁴Daily Mail.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Austin american. With the threat of another tripledemic looming, it's important to take prevention steps and get vaccinated against severe respiratory illnesses. As the country witnesses an uptick, we can turn the tables on this upcoming tripledemic and reduce hospitalizations tremendously by getting the latest boosters.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Newsweek. The FDA has approved the new COVID vaccines without any humans involved in the clinical trials. It's bizarre to believe that the vaccines are an excellent match to protect against the tripledemic when preliminary tests have been conducted only on mice.

Predictions