PRIVATELY FUNDED. AMANDA? >>> THIS MORNING SIGNS ARE POINTING TO A SUMMER COVID SURGE. ACCORDING TO THE LATEST CDC REPORTS INDICATORS LIKE HOSPITALIZATIONS AND E. R. VISITS AND TEST POSITIVITY ARE UP ACROSS THE COUNTRY. BUT EXPERTS SAY THIS SURGE IS FAR LESS INTENSE THAN THOSE WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST. TO JUST WANT TO PUT THAT OUT THERE TO BEGIN WITH. UCF INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST IS JOINING US LIVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS AND DOCTOR. YOU KNOW, I WAS TALKING TO MY GIRLFRIEND ABOUT A WEEK AGO AND EVERYONE GOT COVID AT A CONFERENCE AND I WAS SHOCKED TO HEAR THIS IS NOW BECOMING A THING AGAIN. >> IT IS BECOMING A THING AGAIN. AMANDA, I THINK IT'S NOT -- THIS IS THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE SUMMER WE'VE HAD INCREASING CASES. SO IT SEEMS THAT IT MAY END UP BEING A SUMMER TRADITION NOW UNFORTUNATELY FOR COVID. BUT NOTHING LIKE THE LAST THREE YEARS. AND PROBABLY NOTHING LIKE WHAWE WILL SEE IN THE WINTER. >> SO WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT THIS? AND HOW INTENSE IS IT AND DO WE REALLY NEED TO BE CONCERNED? >> I THINK WE NEED TO BE OPEN-MINDED. NOT FEARFUL. IT'S NOT THE SAME COVID FROM MANY PEOPLE AS IN THE LAST THREE YEARS. HOWEVER, SOME PEOPLE ARE STILL GETTING VERY ILL. AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE HOW TO PROTECT ALL OF US, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE OLDER AND 65 AND THOSE WHO ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED. WHAT WE'RE SEEING NOW IS LIKE YOU SAID, INCREASE IN TEST POSITIVITY AND INCREASE IN E. R. VISITS AND INCREASE IN HOSPITALIZATIONS. BUT SO FAR, I'M CROSSING FINGERS, NOT A -- INCREASE IN DEATHS YOU. KNOW. AN INCREASE IS STARTING FROM A VERY LOW PLACE. SO TO GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE, TODAY AT UCSF, IN THE HOSPITALS, WE HAVE ABOUT 18 PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID. OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS, IT WAS HOVERING AROUND TEN BUT NOTHING LIKE 100 LIKE WE HAD OVER THE WINTER. >> GOT IT. SO WE'RE SEEING IT KIND OF POP UP. BUT NOT TO AN EXTREME LEVEL JUST YET. SO WHERE ARE WE AT WITH VACCINES AND PAXLOVID AND ALSO I HEARD POSSIBLY TALK ABOUT ANOTHER BOOSTER SHOT? >> YEAH, SO IN SEPTEMBER, WE WILL GET ANOTHER -- THE UPDATED COVID VACCINE. THE CDC IS NOT CALLING IT A BOOSTER ANYMORE BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO SIMPLIFY IT. SO IT WILL JUST BE ONCE A YEAR HOPEFULLY LIKE THE FLU SHOT. AROUND SEPTEMBER, ALTHOUGH MOST PEOPLE MIGHT GET IT DEPENDING ON WHEN THE WAVE HITS, IN THE WINTER. IT WILL BE BASED ON XBB. IT WILL BE UPDATED FROM THE CURRENT, YOU KNOW, BA VARIANTS THAT ARE IN THE AVAILABLE VACCINE NOW. BUT FOR THOSE OVER 65 AND IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, GIVEN THE SURGE, IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN IT SINCE LAST FALL WHEN IT WAS FIRST AVAILABLE. YOU SHOULD STILL GO OUT AND GET IT. FOR EVERYBODY ELSE WAIT UNTIL THE UPDATED VACCINE COMES UP. >> WHO SHOULD BE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT THERE AND WHO SHOULD BE TAKING PRECAUTIONS? >> I THINK WE SHOULD ALL BE TAKING PRECAUTIONS BECAUSE AGAIN, WHO WANTS TO BE OUT OF VACATION? OR WORK. BUT NOT, YOU KNOW, I THINK PRUDENT PRECAUTIONS. SO THAT MEANS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU ARE TRAVELING IF YOU ARE ESCAPING THE OUTDOOR HEAT, AND YOU ARE GATHERING INDOORS, THESE ARE ALL REASONS TO THINK ABOUT JUST CARRYING A MASK WITH YOU IN CASE ALWAYS WASHING YOUR HANDS AND REMEMBER COVID IS NOT THE ONLY VIRUS AROUND AND YOU KNOW, TESTS IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS. PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAVE SOMEBODY ELDERLY OR IMMUNOCOMPROMISED AT HOME. AND FINALLY, FOR THOSE FOLKS, MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THAT THEY HAVE ACCESS TO PAXLOVID AND EARLY THERAPIES. BECAUSE IT CAN SAVE YOU FROM GOING TO THE HOSPITAL. >> ALL RIGHT. A GOOD HEADS-UP THAT THIS IS GOING AROUND
