Feb. 18 COVID-19 update: 1,936 new cases; 14 deaths; 9.2% positive test rate

Staff reports | COVID-19 vaccine boosters may provide protection for a shorter time than previously thought, with some potency waning after about four months, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Despite the booster protection fading for many of those who received the doses ahead of the omicron surge, federal health officials are not planning to recommend another round any time soon, according to a report from The New York Times. The level of protection against hospitalization in people who were boosted by either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine fell to 78% from 91% after the first two months. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top health official, said this was fine.

“‘Should I get a fourth shot?’ That’s what a lot of people are asking me,” Fauci said in the New York Times report. “The answer is, if you look at where we are now, it looks like it’s good protection. 78% is good.”

The Biden administration’s vaccine strategy is under review week by week, however, so if the protection continues to drop, and depending on how steeply, the answer may change.

Meanwhile, local COVID cases are “dive bombing,” according to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). The seven-day average for new cases in the tri-county area is dropping with remarkable speed, said Michael Sweat, the leader of MUSC’s COVID-19 Epidemiology Intelligence Project.

As of Feb. 15, the seven-day average was 44 cases per day per 100,000 people in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties combined. The area’s Omicron-driven surge peaked at 416 cases per day per 100,000 people just one month ago.

Latest COVID-19 data

South Carolina health officials on Friday reported 1,936 total new cases of COVID-19, with 1,195 confirmed, and 14 new deaths, with 11 confirmed.

With 16,890 tests reported Friday, 9.2% were positive, keeping pace with reports from the last few weeks.