‘The heat’s different now’: Why the U.S. was unprepared for a deadly summer Extreme temperatures across the U.S. have put the elderly, outdoors workers and people with no access to cool air at greatest risk of severe heat-related illnesses or even death. POLITICO

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By summer’s end, experts expect the heat will lead to thousands of deaths in the United States, higher numbers than in previous years.

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Long COVID. Shorter Life? New research reveals an arduous road to recovery The first study to look at two years of data shows the devastating effects of long COVID-but there are still no validated treatments. Fortune

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Biden administration to urge Americans get new COVID-19 boosters The Biden administration plans to urge all Americans to get a booster shot for the coronavirus this autumn to counter a new wave of infections, a White House official said on Sunday. Reuters Reuters

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"We will be encouraging all Americans to get those boosters in addition to flu shots and RSV shots," the official said, referring to the Respiratory Syncytial Virus.

US COVID markers continue slow rise as UK reports first BA.2.86 case Kateryna Onyshchuk / iStock CIDRAP

COVID hospitalizations and death rose last week, along with other indicators and the proportion of newer Omicron variants such as EG.5, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data updates.

‘Eris’ COVID strain leaves vaccine strategy mostly unchanged Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter{beacon} Health Care Health Care   The Big Story ‘Eris’ strain leaves vaccine strategy mostly unchanged The updated COVID-19… emartin The Hill

The updated COVID-19 booster shots were designed to target the XBB variant, and they’ll still likely work just as well against the new dominant strain.

City empties as thousands flee huge wildfire closing in on capital of Canada's Northwest Territories Residents are heeding warnings to evacuate the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories as a wildfire burns toward the city of 20,000. AP News

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Bivalent COVID vaccine boosts protection against emergency, urgent care in young kids Quinn Dombrowski / Flickr cc CIDRAP

A dose of bivalent (two-strain) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine booster pushed effectiveness against emergency or urgent care (ED/UC) to 80% among preschool children, compared with 46% after two Moderna monovalent (single-strain) doses and 70% after three monovalent Pfizer/BioNTech doses.

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CDC tracking new COVID variant BA.2.86 after highly mutated strain reported in Michigan Cases of the new COVID variant BA.2.86 have been spotted in Michigan, Denmark and Israel. CBS News

... Experts say reports of BA.2.86 being spotted in countries on multiple continents — Denmark, Israel, U.K. and U.S. — suggest it is at least capable of transmitting widely and could have been spreading undetected for some time

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All signs point to a late summer COVID wave COVID-19 is on the upswing once again, per closely watched metrics. Alex Fitzpatrick,Kavya Beheraj Axios

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Hospitalization rates are rising the fastest in Mississippi (+73% month over month), Alabama (+66%) and Louisiana (+66%).

• Yet they're down in Michigan (-32%), Vermont (-31%) and Rhode Island (-31%).
• Remember from past waves that COVID moves about the country unequally, ebbing in some areas and flowing in others at any given point in time.

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