CDC director on COVID-19 and how the agency is prepping for future emergencies

July 8th, 2024

Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks with CNN's Brenda Goodman at the Atlanta Press Club, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Georgia is seeing an uptick in COVID-19 infections as people gather in person for summer celebrations and spend more time indoors in air conditioning to escape the heat.

Public health officials are urging Americans to plan to get an updated COVID-19 shot this fall.

An advisory committee on vaccines at the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the new dose for everyone over the age of six months.

“So that you can have the updated protection that one needs,” CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen told WABE. “Plan for the fall when you’re getting your updated flu shot to also get that updated COVID-19 shot. This is particularly important for those who are over 65. Those folks still continue to be at the highest risk of getting very sick, needing to go to the hospital or potentially losing their life to this virus.”

Nationally, ER visits were up more than 23% over the last week related to the summer COVID-19 wave.

While hospitalization rates are far lower than during previous peaks earlier in the pandemic, the virus continues to mutate.

The latest Omicron variants KP.2, KP.3 and LB.1 are now prevalent, with CDC projections estimating KP.3 account for more than one-third of new COVID-19 illnesses across the country.

Vaccination remains effective at protecting against severe disease, hospitalization and death, according to CDC.

Cohen took over as CDC director in Atlanta a year ago this month.

Since then, she’s spent a lot of time touting her efforts to steer the public health agency through its ongoing transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency phase and trying to get the word out about what she’s doing to make sure the CDC is prepared for the next pandemic.

“We need that data and detection mechanism so we can know if something is going wrong early and respond to it. You want us to have the laboratory and genomic-sequencing capabilities. You want us to have innovations in treatment and vaccines. We want to have the experts who are ready to respond. All of that takes sustained investment,” she said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia is also pushing for more federal funding to support the CDC.

He recently visited the agency’s headquarters to meet with scientists researching a variety of public health threats, including mosquito-borne illnesses, maternal mortality and COVID-19.

“We saw with COVID, with a host of other infectious diseases, that what happens ‘over there’ can quickly make its way over here,” he said. “As a senator representing the state of Georgia, I’m proud that the CDC located right here in our state is engaged in staving off these global health threats before they become a threat to the homeland.”