Author: COVID-19 NEWS

CDC invites representatives from community-based organizations, local government, the private sector, academia, and the general public to learn more about how they can help slow the spread of COVID-19 in their communities. We feature experts from different parts of CDC’s COVID-19 response to deep dive into specific topics, helping you learn more about the latest scientific findings, guidance for operations, information resources, and answering your COVID-19 questions.

Research shows that the particle size of SARS-CoV-2 is around 0.1 micrometer (µm). However, the virus generally does not travel through the air by itself. These viral particles are human-generated, so the virus is trapped in respiratory droplets and droplet nuclei (dried respiratory droplets) that are larger. Most of the respiratory droplets and particles exhaled during talking, singing, breathing, and coughing are less than 5 µm in size. By definition, a High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter is at least 99.97% efficient at capturing particles 0.3 µm in size. This 0.3 µm particle approximates the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) through the filter. HEPA filters are even more efficient at capturing particles larger and smaller than the MPPS. Thus, HEPA filters are no less than 99.97% efficient at capturing human-generated viral particles associated with SARS-CoV-2.Portable HEPA filtration units that combine a HEPA filter with a powered fan system are a preferred option for auxiliary air cleaning, especially in higher risk settings such as health clinics, vaccination and medical testing locations, workout rooms, or public waiting areas. Other settings that could benefit from portable HEPA filtration can be identified using typical risk assessment parameters, such as community incidence rates, facemask compliance expectations, and room occupant density. While these systems do not bring in outdoor dilution air, they are effective at cleaning air within spaces to reduce the concentration of airborne particulates, including SARS-CoV-2 viral particles. Thus, they give effective air exchanges without the need for conditioning outdoor air.
In choosing a portable HEPA unit, select a system that is appropriately sized for the area in which it will be installed. This determination is made based on the air flow through the unit, which is typically reported in cubic feet per minute (cfm). Many portable HEPA filtration units are assigned a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) (See EPA’s Guide To Air Cleaners In The Homeexternal icon), which is noted on a label in the operators manual, on the shipping box, and/or on the filtration unit itself. The CADR is an established standard defined by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM). Participating portable air cleaner manufacturers have their products certified by an independent laboratory, so the end user can be assured it performs according to the manufacturer’s claims. The CADR is generally reported in cfm for products sold in the United States. The paragraphs below describe how to select an appropriate air cleaner based on the size of the room in which it will be used. The procedure below should be followed whenever possible. If an air cleaner with the appropriate CADR number or higher is not available, select a unit with a lower CADR rating. The unit will still provide incrementally more air cleaning than having no air cleaner at all.
In a given room, the larger the CADR, the faster it will clean the room air. Three CADR numbers are given on the AHAM label, one each for smoke, dust, and pollen. The smoke particles are the smallest, so that CADR number applies best to viral particles related to COVID-19. The label also shows the largest room size (in square feet, ft2) that the unit is appropriate for, assuming a standard ceiling height of up to 8 feet. If the ceiling height is taller, multiply the room size (ft2) by the ratio of the actual ceiling height (ft) divided by 8. For example, a 300 ft2 room with an 11-foot ceiling will require a portable air cleaner labeled for a room size of at least 415 ft2 (300 × [11/8] = 415).
The CADR program is designed to rate the performance of smaller room air cleaners typical for use in homes and offices. For larger air cleaners, and for smaller air cleaners whose manufacturers choose not to participate in the AHAM CADR program, select a HEPA unit based on the suggested room size (ft2) or the reported air flow rate (cfm) provided by the manufacturer. Consumers might take into consideration that these values often reflect ideal conditions which overestimate actual performance.
For air cleaners that provide a suggested room size, the adjustment for rooms taller than 8 feet is the same as presented above. For units that only provide an air flow rate, follow the “2/3 ruleexternal icon” to approximate a suggested room size. To apply this rule for a room up to 8 feet tall, choose an air cleaner with an air flow rate value (cfm) that is at least 2/3 of the floor area (ft2). For example, a standard 300 ft2 room requires an air cleaner that provides at least 200 cfm of air flow (300 × [2/3] = 200). If the ceiling height is taller, do the same calculation and then multiply the result by the ratio of the actual ceiling height (ft) divided by 8. For example, the 300 ft2 room described above, but with an 11-foot ceiling, requires an air cleaner that can provide at least 275 cfm of air flow (200 × [11/8] = 275).
While smaller HEPA fan systems tend to be stand-alone units, many larger units allow flexible ductwork to be attached to the air inlet and/or outlet (note that larger ducted units don’t fall under the “room air cleaner” description and may not have a CADR rating). Using ductwork and placing the HEPA system strategically in the space can help provide desired clean-to-less-clean airflow patterns where needed. Ducted HEPA systems can also be used to establish direct source capture interventions for patient treatment and /or testing scenarios (See CDC/NIOSH discussion on Ventilated Headboard). Depending on the size of the HEPA fan/filter units and how the facility in which they are being used is configured, multiple small portable HEPA units deployed to high risk areas may be more useful than one large HEPA unit serving a combined space.
Example 2. Given: The room described in Example 1 is now augmented with a portable HEPA air cleaning device with a smoke CADR of 120 cfm (Qhepa = 120 cfm). The added air movement within the room improves overall mixing, so assign k = 3.
Question: How much time is saved to achieve the same 99% reduction in airborne contaminants by adding the portable HEPA device to the room?
Solution: The addition of the HEPA filter device provides additional clean air to the room. Here, the clean volumetric air flow rate (Q) is: Q = Qe + Qhepa = 80 cfm + 120 cfm = 200 cfm.
ACH = [Q x 60] / (room volume) = (200 cfm x 60) / (12’ x 10’ x 10’) = 12,000/1,200 = 10 ACH.
Using Table B.1, the perfect mixing wait time based on 10 ACH and a 99% reduction of airborne particles is 28 minutes.
Using the mixing factor of 3, the estimated wait time for 99% reduction of airborne contaminants in the room is 3 x 28 = 84 minutes. Thus, the increased ACH and lower k value associated with the portable HEPA filtration unit reduced the wait time from the original 5 hours and 45 minutes to only 1 hour and 24 minutes, saving a total of 4 hours and 21 minutes before the room could be safely reoccupied.
Adding the portable HEPA unit increased the effective ventilation rate and improved room air mixing. This resulted in over a 75% reduction in time for the room to be cleared of potentially-infectious airborne particles.

Correctional and detention centers can differ widely by size, location (e.g., rural), and presence of medical staff; all of these factors might impact accessibility to COVID-19 vaccinations. Multiple vaccine administration strategies might be needed to reach a variety of different correctional and detention facilities.Larger correctional or detention facilities with medical staff might be able to vaccinate incarcerated/detained people and staff directly. These providers should enroll in their jurisdiction’s COVID-19 vaccination program.
Smaller facilities, such as jails located in remote areas, are more likely to experience difficulty accessing medical services and resources necessary for the planning, allocation, distribution, storage, and administration of COVID-19 vaccinations. Mobile vaccination teams from local health departments, contracted correctional and detention facility healthcare providers, community healthcare systems, or commercial pharmacies might be needed to reach these facilities.
Any facility that has not received information regarding COVID-19 vaccinations should contact their local or state health officer.

Left to right: Figure 1 depicts the percentage of COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered to jurisdictions by channel. Figure 2 (middle) depicts the percentage of doses administered by jurisdictional partners and federal programs (retail pharmacy, HRSA FHQC, and FEMA CVC pilots) combined and by federal entities (Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and Veteran Health Administration). Furthest to the right, administration ratios (i.e., percentage of delivered doses that have been administered) are measured and presented in four ways: an unadjusted measure and a lagged adjusted measure for all channels (overall) and for jurisdiction + federal programs (excludes federal entities). Data for three city-based jurisdictions, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago are included in their respective states. Includes data reported as of May 30, 2021. HRSA: Health Resources and Services Administration; FQHC: Federally Qualified Health Center; FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency; CVC: Community Vaccination Center; HHS: US Department of Health and Human Services; NIH: National Institutes of Health.Definitions and Methods
Vaccines Delivered: Includes all doses shipped and recorded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine ordering system, Vaccine Tracking System (VTrckS). Doses delivered totals include all data reported through May 30, 2021. Vaccines delivered are grouped into three categories:

Jurisdiction: Doses delivered to jurisdictions (state, territory, freely associated state, tribe, or local entity) based on the allotment provided by the federal government. Excludes additional doses transferred to jurisdictions by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for use within Community Vaccination Center (CVC) pilot sites or in mobile clinics.
Federal Programs: Programs through which participants receive their own vaccine allocation from the federal government and report vaccine doses administered through the local jurisdiction’s immunization information system (IIS). These include:

Federal Retail Pharmacy Program: The federal government provides vaccine allotments to 21 retail pharmacy chains that represent approximately 48,000 potential vaccination sites across the country. Totals include deliveries provided as part of the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program to vaccinate staff and residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Participating pharmacies may also receive inventory from jurisdictions via federal pharmacy state transfer program (i.e., the jurisdiction transfers doses directly to a pharmacy partner), which are included in these totals. States that have onboarded pharmacies to be vaccine providers allowing pharmacies to order directly from the state are excluded here and included in the jurisdiction totals.
Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federally Qualified Community Health Center Programexternal icon: HRSA leverages its own federal vaccine allotment and sends inventory to select health centers for administration.
FEMA CVC Pilot Site and Mobile Vaccination Programexternal icon: FEMA transfers its vaccine allocation to the state for ordering and administration and provides logistical, financial, and other support for vaccination clinics.
US Dept. Of Heath and Human Services (HHS)/National Institutes of Health Program: Small program managing doses allocated to multiple HHS agencies for administration to critical federal infrastructure personnel.
Federal Dialysis Center Program: Launched on March 29, 2021; allocations are made directly to participating dialysis center participants to vaccinate patients on dialysis.

Federal Entities: Includes the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and Veterans Health Administration, each receiving its own vaccine allocation.

Vaccines Administered: Includes doses administered within the jurisdiction within a category described above and reported to CDC as of 6am ET on May 30, 2021. COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting Overview provides an overarching view of the IT systems and how they integrate to track COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. Vaccine administration data for the federal programs are reported to jurisdictions’ IISs and cannot be fully accounted for due to instances where provider type identifiers are missing and/or the use of mixed inventory from both state and federal allocations. Therefore, their administration totals are presented in aggregate with jurisdictional totals. Federal entity administration totals include doses administered by one of the four listed groups within the jurisdiction and are reported directly to CDC.
Unadjusted Administration Ratio: Calculated as the percentage of doses delivered to a jurisdiction that have been administered as of the date reported.
Adjusted Administration Ratio: Calculated as the percentage of doses delivered to a jurisdiction that have been administered, using a cumulative 7-day rolling average for both administrations and deliveries, and a 3-day lag for doses delivered. This accounts for:

Technical issues delaying timely reporting
Vaccines needing to be redistributed within a jurisdiction, which could mean a longer time between initial distribution and administration
Jurisdictions having multiple data systems at the local and state levels
Providers not reporting vaccine doses administered within the required 72-hour period

The adjusted metric is the standard being used to assess administration ratios for the US COVID-19 Vaccination Program. Interpretation of these metrics for remote jurisdictions (e.g., territories, Hawaii, Alaska) should be done with caution, as they have different delivery schedules than jurisdictions located in the continental United States.
Overall Administration Ratio: Percentage of doses (unadjusted and adjusted) delivered to a jurisdiction that have been administered as of the date reported. This includes all doses delivered and administered in the jurisdiction through any channel.
Jurisdiction + Federal Programs Administration Ratio: Percentage of doses (unadjusted and adjusted) delivered to a jurisdiction that have been administered as of the date reported. This includes doses delivered and administered by jurisdictions and through federal programs but excludes those delivered to and administered by federal entities.

Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Adult Immunization (nationwide)
Populations of focus: Racial and ethnic minority groups (African American/Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American, Hispanic/Latinx American, and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander adults)
Partners: Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Association of American Indian Physicians, Association of Immunization Managers, CDC Foundation, Community Catalyst, Conference of National Black Churches, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Council of Negro Women, National Council of Urban Indian Health, National Hispanic Medical Association, National Medical Association, National Minority Quality Forum, National Urban League, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (and various Tribal Epidemiology Centers), UnidosUS, Urban Institute
Objective: Build the evidence base of effective interventions for reducing racial and ethnic disparities in adult vaccination, as well as make an immediate impact on racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 and influenza vaccination rates, by funding national organizations to implement tailored education, outreach, and access strategies.

This information is for youth and adult athletes considering participating in a sports league or team.This information is not designed to provide guidance to adult sports leagues or organizations who plan or manage competition.  CDC does not currently have guidance for adult sports leagues, however organizations and administrators can reference the Considerations for Youth Sports  to find strategies for reducing exposure risks during sports competition.

Protecting Voices, Votes, and CultureOn Election Day 2020, Ada Dieke sprinted off her flight and raced to the polling station. Several hours earlier, she had been in southeastern Idaho helping the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes roll out their COVID-19 safety protocols for community voting.More

Overview
Currently authorized vaccines in the United States are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against symptomatic and severe COVID-19. Additionally, a growing body of evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people are less likely to have asymptomatic infection or transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. How long vaccine protection lasts and how much vaccines protect against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants are still under investigation.
For the purposes of this guidance, people are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson [J&J]/Janssen)±; there is currently no post-vaccination time limit on fully vaccinated status. Unvaccinated people refers to individuals of all ages, including children, that have not completed a vaccination series or received a single-dose vaccine.
At this time, there are limited data on vaccine protection in people who are immunocompromised. People with immunocompromising conditions, including those taking immunosuppressive medications (for instance drugs, such as mycophenolate and rituximab, to suppress rejection of transplanted organs or to treat rheumatologic conditions), should discuss the need for personal protective measures with their healthcare provider after vaccination.
This guidance provides recommendations for fully vaccinated people, including:

How fully vaccinated people can safely resume activities
How fully vaccinated people should approach domestic and international travel
How fully vaccinated people should approach isolation, quarantine, and testing

CDC will continue to evaluate and update public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people as more information, including on new variants, becomes available. Further information on evidence and considerations related to these recommendations is available in the Science Brief.
Guiding Principles for Fully Vaccinated People

Indoor and outdoor activities pose minimal risk to fully vaccinated people.
Fully vaccinated people have a reduced risk of transmitting SARS-CoV-2 to unvaccinated people.
Fully vaccinated people should still get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
Fully vaccinated people should not visit private or public settings if they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the prior 10 days or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
Fully vaccinated people should continue to follow any applicable federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations.

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