Several key COVID-19 trends that authorities track are now accelerating around the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday. It’s the first major nationwide uptick in the spread of the virus seen in months.
The largest increases are in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic, the agency said in its weekly report updated Friday, though virtually all regions of the country are now seeing accelerations.
Data reported by the agency from emergency rooms and wastewater sampling have tracked some of the steepest increases so far this season in the region spanning Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Rates of infections of nursing home residents across this Midwestern region have also soared in recent weeks, higher than in most other parts of the country, approaching levels not seen since the peak of last winter’s COVID-19 wave.
An mRNA vaccine works like a special set of instructions that tells your body how to make a pretend piece of a germ, but without using any real germ parts. Your body makes, then sees this pretend piece and learns how to protect you against the real germ. It’s like teaching your body to recognize and fight the germ without ever having to meet it for real.
Remember the COVID spike proteins? That’s what the vaccine is teaching your body about, not any actual viruses.