ID 1 and 2: An orange background and a meter indicating moderate wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2. The text reads: COVID-19 spread remains high across the U.S. as our summer surge continues into early fall. All major metrics went up through late August, though some infectious disease experts predict this wave may peak soon.
Wastewater data from the CDC and WastewaterSCAN show significant — but slowing — increases in national SARS-CoV-2 spread in recent weeks. After a big jump in early August (over 50%), the CDC’s estimated national wastewater viral activity level went up by 15% between August 9 and 16, then decreased by 1% between August 16 and 23. These are preliminary data, however, and may change in the next update.
As a new school year gets underway across the U.S., young children remain vulnerable to COVID-19 and Long COVID: emergency department visits for COVID-19 were higher for children under 12 than any other age group in late August. But children will face new barriers to getting vaccinated following last week’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision, as will adults under age 65.
It’s currently unclear exactly how the new FDA labels will be implemented (as different insurance companies and pharmacy chains may decide on different policies), but a New York Times report suggests access challenges may vary by state. Some states may push back on the FDA restrictions: New Mexico’s health department recently ruled to make COVID-19 vaccines broadly accessible in that state. Other state agencies may take similar approaches; we will share more updates as they become available."
ID 1 and 2: An orange background and a meter indicating moderate wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2. The text reads: COVID-19 spread remains high across the U.S. as our summer surge continues into early fall. All major metrics went up through late August, though some infectious disease experts predict this wave may peak soon.
Wastewater data from the CDC and WastewaterSCAN show significant — but slowing — increases in national SARS-CoV-2 spread in recent weeks. After a big jump in early August (over 50%), the CDC’s estimated national wastewater viral activity level went up by 15% between August 9 and 16, then decreased by 1% between August 16 and 23. These are preliminary data, however, and may change in the next update.
As a new school year gets underway across the U.S., young children remain vulnerable to COVID-19 and Long COVID: emergency department visits for COVID-19 were higher for children under 12 than any other age group in late August. But children will face new barriers to getting vaccinated following last week’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision, as will adults under age 65.
It’s currently unclear exactly how the new FDA labels will be implemented (as different insurance companies and pharmacy chains may decide on different policies), but a New York Times report suggests access challenges may vary by state. Some states may push back on the FDA restrictions: New Mexico’s health department recently ruled to make COVID-19 vaccines broadly accessible in that state. Other state agencies may take similar approaches; we will share more updates as they become available."
ID 3: Screenshot of a CDC bar chart showing estimated SARS-CoV-2 variant prevalence in the U.S. The chart is titled, "Empiric Proportions and Nowcast Estimates in United States for 4-Week Periods in 9/1/2024 - 8/30/2025." Each bar in the chart represents variant prevalence for a given month using sections in different colors, going from September 2024 to August 2025. In fall 2024, the most prevalent variant was KP3.1.1 in teal, followed by LP.8.1 in orange in early 2025, and most recently XFG in periwinkle for summer 2025. In its most recent update, for August 2025, the CDC estimates that XFG caused 73% to 85% of U.S. COVID-19 cases.
COVID-19 spread remains high across the U.S. as our summer surge continues into early fall.
As a new school year gets underway, young children remain vulnerable: emergency department visits for COVID-19 were higher for children under 12 than any other age group in late August. bit.ly/41y1HdG
