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All Americans ages 6 months and older should receive one of the new Covid-19 vaccines when they become available this fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The recommendation comes as the nation faces a summer wave of Covid, with the number of infections rising in at least 39 states and territories. (Mandavilli, 6/27)

Nature has published a large study showing that text message reminders to receive a COVID-19 booster worked to increase vaccine uptake, but that offering free rides to pharmacies did not. The study was based on outcomes seen among 3.66 million CVS Pharmacy patients in the United States who were offered free round-trip Lyft rides via text to CVS Pharmacies for vaccination appointments and received seven different sets of behaviorally informed vaccine reminder messages. (Soucheray, 6/27)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking the growth of the COVID-19 LB.1 variant as it begins to trail KP.3. For a two-week period starting on June 9 and ending on June 22, the CDC’s Nowcast data tracker showed the projections of the COVID-19 variants. The KP.3 variant accounted for 33.1% of positive infections followed by KP.2 at 20.8%. The new variant LB.1 was at 17.5% of infections and JN.1, the previous ring leader since 2023, only had 1.6% of positive cases. (Forbes, 6/27)

There are three vaccines for bird flu. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved H5N1 vaccines made by Sanofi, GSK subsidiary ID Biomedical Corporation of Quebec (IDB), and CSL Seqirus—all of which also make seasonal flu vaccines. Sanofi received the first license in 2007 for an H5N1 shot, using chicken-egg manufacturing. IDB's vaccine, approved for adults in 2013, is also egg-based and is the first against H5N1 to include an adjuvant, or an ingredient that generates a stronger immune response. CSL Seqirus’ shot also contains an adjuvant and was approved in 2020 for anyone 6 months or older. The company makes vaccines in two ways: by growing H5N1 in cells in its U.S. facility, and by growing it in eggs in its U.K. facility. (Park, 6/27)

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced more details about a program to compensate dairy farmers for H5N1 avian flu-related milk losses, including that it will start accepting applications on July 1. In a statement, the USDA said it is offering the assistance through an update to its Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). The change will reimburse a portion of financial losses when cattle are removed from milking herds due to confirmed H5N1 test results. (Schnirring, 6/27)