LOS ANGELES—Americans are reporting in both polling and in vaccination data that they are not interested in getting so-called “booster” shots. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that only 40 percent of vaccinated people are submitting to boosters.
“Sterling Pathology has been beating the drum that testing is a powerful tool and actually is a strategy out of the pandemic,” added Sterling Pathology in a statement. “We are urging scalable testing and tailored programs for institutions, especially in high-traffic zones like schools, sporting events and concerts. Americans need better access to testing so that we can stop the spread regardless of which variant we are facing.”
As Omicron infections, hospitalizations and deaths are through the roof, and society is begging to get back to normal, testing is more imperative than ever. USA Today covered the failing booster effort citing that the average number of booster shots dispensed per day in the U.S. declined from 1 million in December 2021 to less than half that number last week.
“It’s clear that the booster effort is falling short,” said Jason Schwartz, a vaccine policy expert at Yale University.
Testing will continue to be imperative as new variants emerge. Monday, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in an executive board meeting that now is not the time to scale down responses to the pandemic.
“There are different scenarios for how the pandemic could play out and how the acute phase could end. But it’s dangerous to assume that omicron will be the last variant or that we are in the endgame,” Tedros warned. “On the contrary, globally, the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.”
Tuesday, the WHO sounded alarms that the next variant could create a new wave in the years-long Covid-19 pandemic.
“The next variant of concern will be more fit, and what we mean by that is it will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating,” Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19. Her remarks were delivered in a press briefing about the looming next variant.
“As we continue to face variants, testing plans should be made for the long-term,” added Sterling Pathology.
Rapid tests can deliver results within 15 minutes and are becoming more popular because of their speed of reporting Covid-19 positive results. However, PCR tests are the “gold standard” and despite the longer 24-48 hour time window for results and can even detect results in asymptomatic cases.
The tests Sterling Pathology offers are FDA-approved for emergency use authorization (EUA) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pathology and genomics lab offers tailored programs that allow large organizations like schools, businesses and governments to administer and oversee scalable testing.
Sterling Pathology’s molecular testing is capable of detecting active COVID-19 infections in the human body. Unique genetic markers of the virus can be found in RNA that only remains in the body while the virus invades and replicates itself. The benefits of molecular testing is its sensitivity in detecting active infections, allowing patients to receive appropriate treatment options from their Care Provider, and take measures to prevent spreading the infections.
