{"id":213027,"date":"2025-09-09T14:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213027\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T14:31:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:31:21","slug":"what-to-know-about-covid-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/213027\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Know About COVID 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19<\/a> is making headlines in several ways right now. Infections are up in<\/a> multiple parts of the country, and COVID vaccines are not available for many people who could get them last year.<\/p>\n

All of this is colliding with the upcoming colder weather, when more and more people will spend time \u2014 and share germs \u2014 indoors, raising fears that controlling cases will become even harder than it already is.<\/p>\n

In short, it\u2019s chaos \u2015 and this current state of affairs is worrying experts. Below, doctors share what\u2019s alarming them most about COVID right now.<\/p>\n

Fewer people may get the COVID vaccine because of confusing regulations. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year, everyone 6 months and older was eligible for a COVID shot<\/a>. This year, there are tighter restrictions in place; only those 65 and older or people younger than 65 with a qualifying underlying condition<\/a> (such as having certain lung conditions, being a smoker, having asthma and more) can get the shot. However, the guidelines vary from place to place, making the eligibility extremely confusing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a horrible mess. With these new restricted eligibility criteria from the [Food and Drug Administration], getting a COVID vaccine has now become a chaotic, constantly shifting scavenger hunt that depends on what state you\u2019re in,\u201d Dr. Oni Blackstock<\/a>, a primary care physician and executive director of Health Justice, a racial and health equity consultancy, told HuffPost via email.<\/p>\n

Some states, like New York, have granted residents permission to get their shot, no matter if they meet the FDA\u2019s eligibility requirements or not. Other states, like Georgia <\/a>and Louisiana,<\/a> may require prescriptions from a doctor. And across the country, some pharmacies aren\u2019t even offering the shot because of the current confusion, Blackstock noted. And the rules in place now may change as time goes on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese restricted eligibility criteria and the patchwork of policies are going to cause major obstacles for the public trying to access an effective and safe vaccine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

You can try to get a COVID shot, but you should check your individual state laws and potentially even talk to your doctor to see what you need to do to get vaccinated. The confusing rules may only make people more hesitant to get a vaccine that has a small uptake<\/a> as it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make things worse, all of this is happening just as COVID cases are rising, heading to the usual fall season surge,\u201d Blackstock said.<\/p>\n

Children under 2, who now have limited access to the vaccine, could face serious health consequences. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a pediatrician, what concerns me the greatest is the children that are less than 2, because those children … are also at risk of severe disease,\u201d said Dr. Anita Patel<\/a>, a pediatric critical care doctor in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Children, across the board, already have low COVID vaccine uptake, Patel added. \u201cAnd every single year we see these children under 2 get admitted to the hospital, either to the ICU … or to the regular inpatient units, requiring oxygen [or] noninvasive forms of breathing support. And in severe cases, they need to be on a ventilator,\u201d Patel explained.<\/p>\n

Children 6 months and older<\/a> with an underlying condition are eligible for the Moderna vaccine, but not the Pfizer of Novavax versions. Kids without an underlying condition are not part of the FDA\u2019s eligibility requirements.<\/p>\n

Vaccination can help protect folks of all ages, incuding kids, from severe disease, death and hospitalization. <\/p>\n

\"As<\/p>\n

Yuichiro Chino via Getty Images<\/p>\n

As COVID surges across the country, doctors worry what confusing vaccine rules mean for future infections. <\/p>\n

Vaccine hesitancy could lead to more long COVID infections, in addition to long-term complications. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do know about the COVID vaccines is that they really are proven to be effective at preventing those long-term complications like long COVID,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n

Research shows<\/a> that getting a COVID vaccine can protect you against long COVID, an oft-debilitating condition that\u2019s associated with chronic symptoms like fatigue, coughing, headaches and chest pain. Long COVID can persist for weeks or years after a COVID infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when you look at the complications for children with underlying health conditions and elderly individuals, there are also risk of clotting disorders<\/a> and strokes,\u201d Patel added.<\/p>\n

Vaccination can help prevent long COVID and long-term effects of an infection, Patel noted. \u201cSo my major concern is that, because of this confusion, patients are just going to opt out of getting the COVID vaccine, because if physicians and pharmacies are confused as to who is eligible to get it, you can bet that the lay people are even more confused. That confusion is going to lead to an increase in vaccine hesitancy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Not getting the shot could mean someone ends up with long COVID after infection or another severe consequence. <\/p>\n

There could be a big disparity in who actually has access to the vaccines.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As mentioned above, you may need a prescription from a doctor for vaccine access in some states. This creates a big health disparity, said Dr. Eric Burnett<\/a>, an internal medicine doctor at an academic medical center in New York and a health communicator on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat brings up the point where not everyone in this country has access to a primary care doctor where they can just go get a prescription and go to CVS or go to their doctor to get vaccinated at the office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many people who just don\u2019t have primary care doctors, who are underinsured or uninsured and can\u2019t have access to these things,\u201d Burnett said.<\/p>\n

This creates a divide in who has access to the vaccines, Burnett explained, which is worrisome and could cause worse health outcomes in groups that are already underinsured or uninsured. <\/p>\n

As we enter cold and flu season, hospitals could deal with overcrowding.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re entering cold and flu season, and our hospitals are already very, very busy,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cJust last month in August, hospitals were overflowing with patients, and that\u2019s concerning because August is typically the season where we don\u2019t have much activity in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burnett is worried that hospitals will be even busier during respiratory virus season as vaccine access is fragmented and there\u2019s much confusion about who can actually get the COVID shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m already starting to see more and more ER visits,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen too much COVID, I\u2019m starting to see more of it now, but it\u2019s just busy in general, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there\u2019s so much impact from the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people got sick during COVID, a lot of which resulted in a lot of chronic illness, not just from COVID itself, but just from people having interruption in their health care,\u201d Burnett continued.<\/p>\n

Think about it: Many people were afraid to leave their homes to go to doctors\u2019 appointments during the pandemic, which allowed symptoms to worsen and left underlying conditions untreated. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t realize that we\u2019re still dealing with the ramifications of the pandemic and how it disrupted health care,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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Even if you aren\u2019t at risk of severe COVID or flu, you may need to go to the hospital for another reason, such as a broken leg or a bad cut, and you might be met with long wait times because of the crowding at the hospital, Burnett explained.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s currently a lot of strain on the health care system, \u201cwhich is going to directly negatively impact public health as a whole, and that\u2019s something that I\u2019m very much concerned about as we move forward into this administration,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n