COVID-19 Federal Responses: Tuesday, February 22, 2022

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering a broad recommendation of second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines. However, this recommendation is unlikely to be made before the fall.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining across the country for the fourth week in a row.
Two studies found that COVID vaccines offer lasting protection against reinfection. The protection may be stronger than natural immunity, as vaccinated participants were re-infected at a lower rate than unvaccinated study participants.
The CDC updated its website and guidelines including Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Overview and Safety and COVID-19 Vaccines That Require 2 Shots.

White House and Federal Agencies

The Biden Administration asked Congress for another $5 Billion for efforts to combat COVID-19 abroad through vaccination and distribution of therapeutics and supplies.
- This would be in addition to the $30 billion in new COVID-19 funding that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requested.

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining across the country for the fourth week in a row.
BioNTech says it is experiencing delays in its development of an Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine, although, an Omicron-specific vaccine might not be necessary.
Two studies found that COVID vaccines offer lasting protection against reinfection. The protection may be stronger than natural immunity, as vaccinated participants were re-infected at a lower rate than unvaccinated study participants.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering a broad recommendation of second booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines. However, this recommendation is unlikely to be made before the fall.
A record number of hospital patients contracted COVID during their stay in January.
A study found anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin was not effective as a treatment for COVID-19. There was also a higher rate of adverse events in the patient group receiving the drug.