New COVID-19 vaccine debuts; case counts drop in Pa., around world

Randy Griffith, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Sep. 8—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Introduction this week of a new COVID-19 vaccine marks a turning point in the battle against the coronavirus, its advocates say.

The new bivalent vaccine will allow the transition to a once-a-year booster, President Joe Biden said in a statement.

"The new vaccines provide the strongest protection from the new omicron strain of the COVID virus," the White House said. "As the virus continues to change, we will now be able to update our vaccines annually to target the dominant variant. Just like your annual flu shot, you should get it sometime between Labor Day and Halloween."

The new bivalent vaccine, which targets the original strain and the now-dominant BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants, will be available this week in the Johnstown area.

Meanwhile, the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop around the world, the World Health Organization announced on Wednesday. The number of new cases fell globally by about 12% this week, according to WHO's weekly review of the pandemic.

"This is very encouraging, but there is no guarantee these trends will persist," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing. "The most dangerous thing is to assume (that) they will."

Pennsylvania's new cases dropped to 16,909 this week, the Pennsylvania Department of Health's weekly COVID-19 update showed. That's down from 18,264 last week and from 22,133 new cases four weeks ago.

Cambria County had 757 new cases and two COVID-19 deaths over the past seven days, the Health Department report showed on Wednesday.

Somerset County added 95 cases and two deaths, Bedford County added 68 cases with no deaths, Blair County added 228 cases and one death, Indiana County added 157 cases and three deaths, Clearfield County added 366 cases and two deaths, Centre County added 368 cases with no deaths and Westmoreland County added 550 cases and eight deaths.