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A new set of COVID-19 variants, nicknamed FLiRT, has been detected in wastewater surveillance, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From April 14 through April 27, the variant, labeled KP.2, makes up about 25% of the cases in the United States, according to the CDC. That makes it the new dominant variant in the country, overtaking JN.1. The JN.1 variant, which spread globally over the winter, made up 22% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. in the same two-week span.KP.1.1, another FLiRT variant that is circulating, made up about 7.5% of COVID-19 cases in that two-week span, according to CDC data. (Hauari, 5/7)

AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the pandemic. The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria's marketing authorizations within Europe. (5/7)

The US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved $732 billion by averting illness and related costs during the Delta and Omicron variant waves, with a return of nearly $90 for every dollar spent, estimates a study by HHS and the research firm Fors Marsh. (Van Beusekom, 5/7)

A new bill set to be considered on Wednesday by the House Ways & Means Committee would extend for two years telehealth flexibilities for Medicare enrollees that were adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, and look to reform drug industry middlemen to pay for it. (Aguilar and Zhang, 5/7)

In its latest updates, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more H5N1 avian flu detections in poultry and wild birds, including several pigeons in Michigan's Ionia County, an area where the virus has been reported in dairy cows. (Schnirring, 5/7)

Over a year ago, Marc Johnson, PhD, of the University of Missouri, developed a probe to detect H5 avian influenza A virus (IAV) genetic material in city wastewater because he expected it to start popping up in routine surveillance—just not from cattle. "This cattle thing, that snuck up on us," he told CIDRAP News. "If this [probe] had been implemented nationally, we would've known about this in wastewater back in February, and they would have maybe gotten a lid on it sooner. It's really surprising that it became so widespread without anybody knowing." But the probe wasn't operationalized at that time because H5N1 wasn't recognized until some cattle started showing symptoms in late March. (Van Beusekom, 5/7)