WEBVTT

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GEOFF BENNETT: Three
years into the pandemic,

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cases, hospitalizations and
deaths are all declining, but
questions remain about new

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variants and whether some people
may need a spring booster shot.

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William Brangham is here
with an update on the
state of COVID in the U.S.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, it's
worth noting good news when
it occurs. And, on COVID,

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there is some. The U.S. avoided
the worst of a winter surge,
and weekly recorded deaths from

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this virus are the lowest
they have been since the
early weeks of the pandemic.

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But it is not all good
news. More than 1,700
Americans still died last

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week because of COVID. And, for
the elderly, immunocompromised
and those still struggling

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with the little-understood
long COVID, this pandemic is
hardly in the rearview mirror.

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For another check-in on
COVID, we're joined again
by epidemiologist Katelyn

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Jetelina. She's at the
University of Texas.
And she writes the very

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informative Substack called
Your Local Epidemiologist.

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Katelyn, great to have you
back on the "NewsHour."

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What is your take on where we
are in the trajectory of this
pandemic? Deaths are down,

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as I mentioned, but
there is this XBB variant
that is -- subvariant,

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that is now dominant in
this country. Where are we?

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KATELYN JETELINA,
University of Texas Health
Science Center: You know,

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it's a really good question.

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I think we're somewhere
in between a full-blown
emergency, like we saw
in the beginning of 2020,

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and somewhere before an
endemic. We're just not at
a state where we know what

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this virus is going to
do. And this virus is not
being very predictable.

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Like you said, all metrics are
nosediving right now. And that's

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good news. We expect that
to happen with spring
because of warmer weather,

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less holiday gatherings. But
COVID continues to do its COVID
thing and continues to mutate.

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It's what viruses do to survive.
And we're paying specific
attention to XBB offshoots,

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one in India and one in
the U.K. That is causing
a little disruption
and some smaller waves.

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And so this does have the
potential to disrupt a
quiet spring in the U.S.,

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but it's still too early
to know for sure, given our
complex immunity landscape.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Speaking
of that immunity landscape,

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it's been about six to seven
months since the bivalent
boosters became available,

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which is plenty of time for
a lot of people to have lost
some of their protection.

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You wrote about this today.
Is there good evidence
for a spring booster?

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KATELYN JETELINA: I think
it depends on what you
define as good evidence.

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It's really difficult for
us to know how much each
booster helps or does not
help and incrementally,

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and get a grip on it
prospectively. And so
what we know for sure
is that protection is

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robust for younger and healthier
people, keeping them out of the
hospital, which is great news.

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The concern is for
immunocompromised
and older adults with
comorbidities. And this

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is because their immune
systems are just not as strong.
And it's being -- they're

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being pulled in multiple
directions. And so this
is a group where we really

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want to avoid infection
in order to prevent
hospitalization and death.

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And we know these
antibodies, like you say,

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that prevent infection
wane pretty quickly and
only last about six months.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And elderly
Americans, 65 and older,

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those are increasingly the
people who are still dying
of COVID. Isn't that right?

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KATELYN JETELINA:
That is correct.

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I think the last statistics was
about 90 percent of deaths are
among those over 65 years old;

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96 percent of
hospitalizations are among
old adults, older adults,

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with at least one comorbidity,
and because, again, their
immune systems are just taxed.

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I think the good news is
that very few people are in
the hospital today who are

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up to date on vaccines. So,
the vaccines are working.
The essential question is,

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is this going to change in time?
And what do we do proactively?

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want
to touch on long COVID,

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this still mysterious
ailment that so many
people are suffering from.

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What are we learning about
who is getting it and why?

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KATELYN JETELINA: You're
right. There's millions of
Americans right now debilitated,

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out of work, suffering, with
very few treatment options.

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We are starting to get a better
grip on what causes COVID. It
seems to be several factors,

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like, for example,
a lingering virus or

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people harbor the virus
in their tissue, which
can create damage. I know
that other people get long

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COVID driven by the immune
system. Autoantibodies just
start attacking the body itself.

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And then there's also just
immune dysregulation, that, even
if someone clears the virus,

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the immune system is
off-balance, and so
other dormant viruses
reactivate and drive chronic

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symptoms. So, long
COVID, we're learning,
is really an umbrella
term for several causes.

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And this is important to
know because it'll allow
us to understand how we
can target treatments.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And, lastly,
in the few seconds we have left,

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on those treatments, there
are some that show some
promise on long COVID?

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KATELYN JETELINA: There are.

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There's about 300
clinical trials right now,

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and the results are starting
to trickle in. For example,
we see metformin, which is a

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very cheap drug. It
reduces long COVID about
40 percent. Paxlovid
reduces it a bit as well,

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maybe about 25 percent. So there
is good news on the horizon.
But we need more answers.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Katelyn
Jetelina, thank you so
much for being here.

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KATELYN JETELINA:
Thanks for having me.