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On the heels of a summer wave of COVID-19 cases, Americans will be able to get free virus test kits mailed to their homes, starting in late September. U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens, according to the website, COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency that oversees the testing has not announced an exact date for ordering to begin. (Seitz, 8/23)

Government-purchased supplies of the antiviral drug Paxlovid will also be available at no charge to people who are uninsured or who are on Medicare or Medicaid. The CDC is giving state and local health departments additional funding to provide free Covid vaccines for uninsured and underinsured adults, and free vaccines will continue to be available to children from low-income families through the government’s Vaccines for Children program. (Goodman, 8/23)

Health experts are urging school staff and families to take active steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amid rising infections as school districts stick to their previous plans to combat the virus similarly to how they would the flu or strep throat. Weekly deaths from COVID-19 have steadily risen in the United States since mid-June, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID Data Tracker. (Lonas and O’Connell-Domenech, 8/25)

For years, public health experts have said that COVID-19 infections in children are “mild.” According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most common symptoms of COVID in kids are a fever and cough. While some children with the coronavirus are admitted to the ICU and there are pediatric deaths, studies have found that underlying medical conditions including obesity, diabetes, cardiac and lung disorders, increase the risk of severe outcomes. (Karlis, 8/26)

A study of nearly 19 million adults in England reveals a higher rate of mental illness among survivors of COVID-19 hospitalization—particularly among the unvaccinated—for up to a year. A team led by University of Bristol investigators evaluated the incidence of mental illness in patients before and after COVID-19 diagnosis within the past year. ... The research was published this week in JAMA Psychiatry. (Van Beusekom, 8/23)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: The New Covid Vaccine Is Out. Why You Might Not Want To Rush To Get It

The FDA has approved an updated covid shot for everyone 6 months old and up, which renews a now-annual quandary for Americans: Get the shot now, with the latest covid outbreak sweeping the country, or hold it in reserve for the winter wave? The new vaccine should provide some protection to everyone. But many healthy people who have already been vaccinated or have immunity because they’ve been exposed to covid enough times may want to wait a few months. (Allen, Fawcett and Grapevine, 8/26)