New report shares the concerning reason why attendance at Disney’s theme parks is dropping — they’re becoming a ‘ghost town’
Leo Collis – August 15, 2023
The Happiest Place on Earth is seemingly not immune to the challenges of extreme weather.
According to InsideTheMagic.com, “Disney’s attendance has dropped substantially,” with some attendees reporting impacts at Disneyland and other parks, with Disney World appearing more like a “ghost town” than a thriving tourist destination.
And while it could be down to several factors, weather conditions appear to be one of the more common threads linking the trend.
What’s happening at Disney parks?
Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has been snapped repeatedly by visitors as looking much emptier than usual.
Meanwhile, waiting times for rides during the typically hectic Fourth of July weekend were much shorter than usual.
One Reddit user even described the parks as “barren” in May.
Among the reasons cited for the drop in attendance, unpredictable weather conditions are a common explanation.
Why are weather conditions affecting guest numbers?
If you’ve ever been on a Disney vacation, you know it doesn’t come cheap. The cost of accommodation, tickets, food, drink, and gifts adds up in a hurry, and if you’ve paid in advance for any of the trip, it might be difficult to get that money back should the parks be forced to shut down — and that’s not to mention the disappointment of not being able to go.
Park closures in extreme weather conditions are not unheard of. In September 2022, for example, Hurricane Ian forced the closure of Disney World from the 28th to the 29th.
In other parts of the world, a typhoon warning in Hong Kong in July forced the Disneyland park there to close.
Then consider the impact of heat waves, which are exacerbated by excessive carbon emissions resulting from everyday human activity, not to mention those emitted in the parks.
Limited shade areas, long lines, crowded parks, and the cost of beverages may put some off from visiting the park in the summer months when hotter temperatures can be unsafe and problematic for visitors — especially those with children.
In 2017, ash clouds and orange skies greeted visitors at Disneyland in California following wildfires in the surrounding countryside. While the park wasn’t closed, nearby communities were evacuated, signaling that it would have caused problems for those staying in the area.
Extreme weather events like these are likely to become more common because of the effects of Earth’s rising temperatures, and spending money on what could be a wasted trip won’t appeal to many, which could lead to even sharper declines in visitor numbers.
What is Disney doing to deal with weather problems at its parks?
While there isn’t a lot Disney can do when it comes to the weather, it is making changes to tackle rising temperatures.
In 2022, it was announced that Disney World would be installing two 75-megawatt solar facilities that in addition to existing solar generation would power around 40% of the resort’s annual electricity needs.
Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, told ABC News (via “Good Morning America“): “Our commitment to the environment goes beyond imagining a brighter, more sustainable future by putting possibility into practice to ensure a happier, healthier planet for all.”
Disney has said its aim is “to achieve net-zero emissions for direct operations by 2030.”
The rouble has fallen by 40pc since November, when it became clear what Russia was up against: an unbroken Ukraine able to pack a military punch; a West that was refusing to fracture; and an oil price cap that the Kremlin never thought would happen.
The pace of devaluation has quickened since the Prigozhin mutiny. Over the last week, the rouble has broken its mooring, briefly blowing through the psychological line of 100 to the dollar. The central bank raised interest rates to 12pc in an emergency move on Tuesday but this has so far failed to restore confidence.
Russia now faces a drastic tightening of financial conditions and a currency slide at the same time.
Vladimir Putin can no longer maintain his line that the exchange rate slide is a calibrated and deliberate move in budget management. He touted rouble strength all last year as proof of Russia’s economic invulnerability.
“They are talking about it in every kitchen in Russia,” said financial journalist Orlon Skim.
Tim Ash from Chatham House said the devaluation is an internal propaganda disaster and “the clearest signal yet that the oil price cap and sanctions are working”.
Russia is running out of usable hard currency, to the point where Aeroflot has been landing at least nine of its Boeing and Airbus passenger jets with their brakes switched off because the airline is struggling to obtain parts at viable cost, and can no longer service its fleet in the West.
Pilots have to rely on reverse-thrust alone. A leaked memo obtained by Aviatorschina warned them of the risk of “overrunning the runway” in wet weather. This is a country in dire straits. Only in the magical world of Russian statistics did the economy grow 4.9pc in the second quarter, year-on-year.
Russia can of course buy anything it really needs on the global black market, mostly funnelled through Turkey, Dubai, or central Asia. German exports to Kazakhstan are up 105pc over the last year. Mirabile dictu.
Russia has switched to Chinese semiconductors – as well as cannibalising dishwashers and fridges – but these are mostly workhouse chips, too low-tech for advanced warfare. It would take years to configure Chinese circuits for Russia’s existing industrial system, and so far Chinese companies have been strikingly reluctant to do so.
The weapons captured or shot down in Ukraine overwhelmingly contain US chips acquired before the war. Russia has an elaborate smuggling network to obtain replacements but this costs hard currency. That is what Putin no longer has.
Russia enjoyed a revenue bonanza last year from booming energy, metal, and grain prices. Commodity revenues pushed the current account surplus to 20pc of GDP, allowing Putin to finance the war and uphold the social welfare contract at the same time.
That surplus has largely evaporated. Mr Ash said Russian energy sales to Europe have dropped to €2bn (£1.7bn) a month from €12bn a month last year. Gazprom has essentially lost its €60bn annual gas market in Europe forever. The gas pipelines from the west Siberian fields cannot be switched to China without vast investment.
Putin is still selling near record volumes of oil, as intended under the sanctions regime. The point of the $60 oil cap is to keep the world economy well-supplied with crude, while depriving the Kremlin of a slice of the earnings.
Either Putin ships his oil though the western-controlled nexus of tankers and insurance, and accepts the price cap; or he ships it in his own shadow fleet with complex and costly refuelling off Gibraltar or the Greek islands. He loses $8 to $10 a barrel sending the oil halfway around the world to Asia. The Indians and the Chinese know he is a distressed seller and are driving a hard bargain.
The International Energy Agency says the discount on Russian Urals crude has narrowed. The price averaged $64 in July but that is still significantly lower than Brent near $80 at that time. How much of that reaches Russia after transport costs and fees for middlemen is an open question.
To the extent that we can believe any Russian data at this stage, Kremlin revenues collapsed by 47pc in the first half of the year. The budget deficit is running at an annualised pace of $50bn even on the official figures. The Kremlin cannot borrow abroad and lacks a deep and liquid bond market at home.
The Kremlin is now raiding private companies, forcing them to pay “voluntary” contributions to the war effort. The founders of Yandex, Russia’s “Google”, the telecom company Vimpelcom, and the digital bank Tinkoff have all been driven into exile, effectively expropriated or coerced into selling cheaply.
Covering the budget shortfall by this sort of scavenging has reached its limits. The falling rouble flatters the fiscal deficit because it raises the nominal rouble revenues from oil exports, but that effect is quickly overwhelmed by the inflationary sting in the tail.
The treasury has had to dip into the national welfare fund, down $16bn since May to $146bn, and not all of that is liquid. The Kremlin has suspended the budget rule requiring that a share of energy revenues is salted away in foreign assets. This move failed to stabilise the rouble.
Russia is now caught in a classic emerging market crisis. The more that Putin’s circle tries to scapegoat central bank chief Elvira Nabiullina, the technocrat holding Russia’s finances together, the greater the likelihood of igniting an inflation-devaluation spiral, with no possibility of an IMF bail-out when it all goes wrong.
This may not yet be the final chapter for Putin but the rouble crisis rebuts the widely-repeated claim that time works to his advantage in Ukraine. He is running out of plunder to buy off the hard-bitten business interests and private militias that underpin his regime.
A reader of this newsletter suggested that the West should lift all sanctions against Russian oligarchs instead of hounding them, except for those actively aiding the war. They should be encouraged to bring as much money as possible to Zurich, London, or New York, safe in the knowledge that it will not be frozen.
I agree. The imperative is to split the Russian elite and quicken capital flight. A run on the rouble is the financial equivalent of Storm Shadow missiles.
This city famous for its water is now at risk of running out — here’s how things changed so quickly
Sara Klimek – August 15, 2023
The Florida city of Zephyrhills is known for its water — notably the bottled water company with the same name. But ironically the city, located northeast of Tampa, is setting off alarm bells for that exact reason. According to a state report, Zephyrhills is expected to run out of drinking water within the next two decades.
What’s happening?
Population growth in the Sunshine State has been one of the primary reasons for its water stress. According to the National Association of Realtors, Florida’s population increased by 1.9% in 2022 and is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
“Visitors to Florida and new residents assume there is no problem with water,” Virginia Haley, president of the Sarasota Convention & Visitors Bureau, said. “There has always just been the assumption about the availability of drinking water that it is going to be there.”
However, this is proving not to be the case. Over 3 billion gallons of water are used in Central and South Florida every day, Southwest Florida TV station WGCU reports — and the strain on the water system is increasing with the new population booms.
Why is this problematic?
The major water use in South Florida is for landscape irrigation, meaning watering lawns and golf courses. Landscape irrigation diverts water that could be otherwise used for drinking, bathing, and indoor household use, and it leaches fertilizers, chemicals, and pesticides into local waterways.
As its water continues to dwindle, Zephyrhills is expected to funnel more funds into sourcing water from other sources in the region. So far, the city council approved placing a development moratorium to reduce the strain on its water supply.
This will allow the council the time to consider the future of development in the city as well as how to increase the “impact fees” to cover the pressure that development puts on city services — like the water supply. In turn, this can make development more expensive and potentially decrease the cost efficiency of development in the region.
What’s being done?
Governments in Southern Florida are having to assess current water stocks as well as search for alternative sources of drinking water, such as recycled water or aquifers.
Municipalities may have to be more strict about how much water residents can use for nonessential purposes, like watering lawns, or restrict the time window homeowners can water their lawns to help encourage water conservation.
People can also do their part to help decrease water use. “Wait for the dishwasher to be full before you run out. Do a full load of laundry, not a partial load, and take shorter showers,” said South Florida Water Management District section leader Tom Colios.
Middle class Americans are moving straight into fire and drought because they can’t afford to live in the cities that are safer from climate change
Eliza Relman – August 15, 2023
An aerial view of homes in the Phoenix suburbs on June 9, 2023 in Queen Creek, Arizona.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Rising housing costs have helped push Americans into parts of the country more vulnerable to climate change.
US counties that have the most at-risk homes are all growing in population.
The trend shows how the burden of climate change is falling disproportionately on less affluent people.
The skyrocketing cost of housing has pushed many Americans to trade their lives in big coastal cities like New York and San Francisco for more affordable ones in Sunbelt cities and Southern suburbs.
But that move could cost more in the long-run.
These more affordable regions of the country are also facing much more severe impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, wildfires, floods, and droughts. People are pouring into flood-prone Florida, moving into Houston not long after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, and relocating to parts of the West and Southwest dealing with the worst droughts and wildfires in the country.
Rather than leaving areas at high risk of natural disasters and other climate issues, more Americans are moving into them. US counties that have the most at-risk homes are all growing in population, while those with the fewest at-risk homes are almost all losing residents, according to a 2021 Redfin analysis.
The pandemic exacerbated this trend. There’s been a recent spike in people moving from more expensive cities to lower-cost, smaller places farther from large metros and closer to natural amenities, in part due to the rise in remote work. These locations – like Bend, Oregon, which is vulnerable to wildfires — tend to be more at risk of natural disasters. The number of loan applications for homes in high-risk areas rose from 90,462 in February 2020 to 187,669 in February 2022, Freddie Mac reported.
In the longer-term, this trend will put many more Americans at risk of losing their homes to wildfires and floods, or being hurt or killed by extreme heat, or suffering from a lack of water. Rich people are already better able to protect themselves from natural disasters and other climate impacts, whether by fleeing, hiring private firefighters, or retrofitting their homes. But if lower-risk cities continue to price people out, the burden of climate change will fall even more disproportionately on less affluent communities.
Experts say there are ways that local, state, and federal governments can help to reverse this dangerous trend.
A recent Brookings Institution report recommended several ways that policymakers can encourage Americans to seek climate safety. First, the researchers say that Congress and the the Federal Housing Finance Agency should work with mortgage lenders and property insurers to factor climate risk into their rates, charging homeowners more based on how much risk they’re taking on.
Often, homebuyers don’t know what kinds of climate risks their property faces, so state and local governments should develop rules about what information needs to be disclosed to a potential homebuyer and then impose higher taxes on riskier property.
“Higher fees in risky areas serve two purposes: they encourage price-sensitive households to choose safer locations, and they also provide local governments with more revenue to upgrade the climate resilience of infrastructure,” Jenny Schuetz and Julia Gill of Brookings write.
Zoning and other land-use regulations, they argue, should be reformed to encourage more dense development in safer places and less sprawl into particularly climate-impacted areas.
Homeowners and landlords in riskier places also need to do more to retrofit homes to make them more fire and wind proof and more energy efficient. The researchers recommend that local policymakers think more carefully about where to invest infrastructure — including roads, schools, and water and sewage capacity — in climate-impacted areas to either discourage or encourage people to move to certain areas.
Republican-controlled states like Oklahoma are rushing to invest in clean energy, even as conservative groups push for more oil and gas
Chris Panella – August 14, 2023
Republican-controlled states across the country are seeing record investment in renewable energy industries.Jason Kozlowski / EyeEm
GOP-controlled states like Oklahoma are seeing major economic investment in clean energy industries.
A solar power exec told The New York Times the “financial opportunity” is drawing people in.
But conservative groups behind The Heritage Foundation are pushing for more fossil fuel production.
Across the US, Republican-controlled states are seeing major investments in clean energy such as wind and solar. But conservative groups are banning together to slash renewables and increase oil and gas production should a Republican be elected president in 2024.
The conservative-led Heritage Foundation’s policy playbook for renewable energy seeks to reverse regulations to rein in greenhouse gases, cut federal spending on wind and solar, and bolster oil and gas production. The plan is part of the foundation’s Project 2025, a sweeping agenda designed by dozens of conservative groups to “pave the way for an effective conservative administration” should a Republican be elected president in 2024.
No leading Republican presidential candidate has responded on whether they support the project, according to The New York Times, but several officials involved were former members of the Trump administration and their plans match Trump’s 2024 platform.
But as The Heritage Foundation pushes back against renewables, clean energy companies and projects are leading the way in Republican-led states. About two-thirds of new clean energy investment is in Republican states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and South Dakota, the Times reported.
A solar farm plan in Arkansas, for example, will be the state’s largest and power a major nearby US Steel factory by late 2024, which the company Entergy says will help them meet their sustainability goals and cut the steel factory’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80%, the Times reported.
And in Oklahoma, economics takes precedence over politics, as renewables lead to record profits.
“The environmental benefits are nice,” J.W. Peters, president of Solar Power of Oklahoma, told the Times, “but most people are doing this for the financial opportunity.”
For Decades, Our Carbon Emissions Sped the Growth of Plants — Not Anymore
Yale Environment 360 – August 14, 2023
A forest afflicted by drought. pxfuel
For the last century, rising levels of carbon dioxide helped plants grow faster, a rare silver lining in human-caused climate change. But now, as drier conditions set in across much of the globe, that uptick in growth is leveling off, a new study finds.
Through photosynthesis, plants convert water and carbon dioxide into storable energy. By burning fossil fuels, humans have driven up carbon dioxide levels, from around 280 parts per million before the Industrial Revolution to 417 parts per million last year. That extra carbon dioxide has sped up photosynthesis, spurring plants to soak up more of our emissions and grow faster. Since 1982, plants globally have added enough leaf cover to span an area roughly twice the size of the continental U.S.
But the effect appears to be wearing off. While carbon dioxide levels continue to climb, more than a century of warming has also made the climate more hostile to plants. Drier conditions in many parts of the world mean that, even as plants get more carbon dioxide, they are getting less of the other key ingredient needed for photosynthesis — water.
For the new study, scientists gathered data from ground monitors measuring levels of carbon dioxide and water in the air from 1982 to 2016. They compared these data with satellite images of forests, grasslands, and farms, using artificial intelligence to spot changes over time. Small differences in the green hue of plants, for instance, indicate a shift in the rate of photosynthesis.
The study found that photosynthesis sped up until around the year 2000, at which point it began to level off. Looking ahead, authors say, the rate of photosynthesis could flatten out entirely, making it harder to keep rising carbon emissions — and warming — in check. The findings were published in the journal Science.
Scientists Puzzled to Find Plastic Fragments Inside Human Hearts
Noor Al-Sibai – August 13, 2023
Researchers have found microplastics inside human heart tissues — though as the scientists note, that shouldn’t be all too surprising.
“Everywhere scientists look for microplastics,” a press release about the new research reads, “they’ve found them.”
Be it in food, water, air, and even some parts of the human body, microplastics are absolutely everywhere. And, as it turns out, the human heart, one of the body’s innermost organs, isn’t spared.
An international team of researchers conducted a pilot study by collecting heart tissue samples from 15 patients during heart surgery, as well as blood samples from half of these participants.
Their preliminary findings, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, suggest that “microplastics were unexpectedly introduced during the procedures.”
Using laser direct infrared imaging instruments, the researchers detected “tens to thousands of individual microplastic pieces in most tissue samples,” though as the news release notes, “the amounts and materials varied between participants.”
The team detected eight types of plastic in the tissues including polyethylene terephthalate, which is primarily found in polyester clothing, and polyvinyl chloride or PVC.
Blood samples from all of the participants also contained minuscule plastic particles of a number of different types as well, but, curiously enough, “after surgery their average size decreased.”
While this is far from the first time materials have been left behind in human bodies post-surgery, this pilot study shines a line on how microplastics like those found in these 15 patients could be introduced without any neglect on the part of the surgeons.
“The findings show how invasive medical procedures are an overlooked route of microplastics exposure,” the press release notes, “providing direct access to the bloodstream and internal tissues.”
Larger and more diverse studies are, of course, in order to figure out how common a problem this really is, but these preliminary results are more than enough evidence to consider this a serious line of inquiry.
New study shares troubling revelation about the fish we eat: ‘All of those are areas of significant concern’
Wes Stenzel – August 14, 2023
Whales off the coast of Oregon are consuming more plastics and waste than we thought — and researchers say this has troubling implications for humans as well.
What’s happening?
Researchers from the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute analyzed the diets of gray whales and discovered alarming amounts of microplastics had passed through their systems. The researchers found that the zooplankton that the whales ate had been corrupted by hundreds of human-made microparticles — and that whales often inadvertently suck up even bigger microplastics as they vacuum-feed, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Why is this concerning?
Leigh Torres, associate professor at OSU and a researcher on the study, explained why the study’s findings were concerning.
“[Microplastics] can lead to stunted growth, smaller body size, lower ability to have calves, and animals not using this habitat anymore,” Torres told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “All of those are areas of significant concern.”
Torres also explained why these findings have alarming implications for people.
“It’s likely that humans are also getting a lot of microplastics from our own fish diet,” she told Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Little by little we are all getting exposed to more and more microplastics. That’s inescapable at this point across all ecosystems.”
The average person consumes at least 78,000 microplastics per year, according to Statista — and it’s likely that that number is far too low.
What’s being done about microplastics?
Legislative bodies around the world are slowly but surely enacting policies that will reduce the amount of harmful plastics that make their way into the ocean. For example, Oregon recently passed two laws that should help curb the problem — one allows customers to bring their own containers to be filled with food in restaurants, and the other bans “forever chemicals” and phases out polystyrene foam products, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
The most impactful way we can help limit the spread of microplastics is to consciously avoid plastic products whenever possible. We can use reusable water bottles instead of disposable ones, invest in glass containers at home instead of using plastic bags, and generally minimize our consumption of plastic packaging.
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Mehdi Hasan: Trump Supporters’ Threats Of ‘Civil War’ Are ‘Not Just Talk’
Ben Blanchet – August 14, 2023
Mehdi Hasan warned that threats of political violence are no longer “just talk” as some elected Republicans allude to “civil war” or the use of “force” amid the criminal prosecutions of Donald Trump. (See the video below.)
The MSNBC host on Sunday was discussing how a possible conviction and sentencing of the former president would play out among his supporters, particularly as Georgia prosecutors look to bring their election interference case against him to a grand jury on Tuesday. Trump is already facing three other criminal cases.
Hasan rolled a clip of one Trump supporter speaking with NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard at a New Hampshire rally last week.
“If Donald Trump were to be found guilty by a jury, where do you see this going?” Hillyard asked a woman in a Trump 2024 shirt.
“Civil war,” the woman responded, adding: “’Cause we can’t live together, obviously.”
These were not the “rantings of a cultish Trump superfan,” Hasan argued, pointing to elected Republicans who have made similar remarks.
At an Iowa rally on Saturday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) declared that change in Washington can come “only through force.”
Hasan then played an audio clip shared by The Messenger in which Michigan state Rep. Matt Maddock (R) warned there could be a “civil war or some sort of revolution” if the government “continues to weaponize” departments against conservatives and citizens.
“Now you might say, again, ‘That’s just talk, talk is cheap,’” Hasan said. “But it’s not just talk.”
“Political violence is not just something abstract or something that might happen at some point in the future. It’s happening right now,” he continued, citing a Reuters report on over 200 cases of political violence since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
He also noted a warning from the federal judge overseeing the 2020 election case against Trump that “even arguably ambiguous statements” from him or his team could be viewed as attempts to intimidate witnesses.
“We have to condemn the violence and the incitement of violence. We have to take steps to prevent it from escalating out of all control,” Hasan said.
“The threat of civil war, of domestic conflict, is no longer hyperbole,” Hasan concluded. “And so we just cannot afford to normalize political violence and the threat of political violence in this country just because Donald Trump benefits from it and the Republican Party seems totally fine with it.”
See the entire segment below:
.@MehdiRHasan warns that the threat of civil war is no longer hyperbole: “Political violence is not something abstract, or something that might happen at some point in the future, it’s happening right now." pic.twitter.com/JWaNyT797b
New COVID Variant EG.5 Now Makes Up Largest Proportion of New Infections Nationwide
Erin Clack – August 13, 2023
The new variant, nicknamed “Eris,” has quickly overtaken the prevailing Omicron XBB variants that have been circulating for the past six months.
The new variant, nicknamed “Eris,” has quickly overtaken the prevailing Omicron XBB variants that have been circulating for the past six months
GettyThe EG.5 “Eris” variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S.
A fast-spreading new COVID-19 variant called EG.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S.
Data gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) between July 23 to Aug. 5 showed that 17.3% of new COVID-19 cases nationwide were caused by EG.5 — also known as “Eris” — up from 7.5% the first week of July.
EG.5 also is on the rise in several other countries globally, including China, South Korea and Canada. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization classified it as a “variant of interest.”
Getty
EG.5 —which was first detected in the U.S. in the spring — is closely related to the XBB variants that have been circulating for the past six months. It notably contains a particular mutation in its spike protein known to evade some of the immunity a person gets after an infection or vaccination.
Last month, EG.5 quickly surpassed the prevailing Omicron XBB variants which had accounted for the largest share of U.S. cases, indicating it’s likely more transmissible. According to CDC data, in April 29, the XXB 1.5 (Omicron) variant caused 73.5% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. though the latest data shows the same variant only accounts for 10.3% of cases.
GettySome public health experts believe waning population immunity could be contributing to the fast spread of EG.5.
However, health experts say EG.5 does not cause more severe illness and is associated with similar symptoms as the XBB variants. Those symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and an altered sense of smell.
“Omicron is out there making minor variations. It’s having children, progeny, but they’re all closely related to omicron,” Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told ABC News. “They are contagious, but they are not more serious, so that’s excellent.”
Andrew Pekosz, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, said waning population immunity is likely contributing to the rapid spread of EG.5.
“It’s been quite a long time since boosters were provided for COVID, and those boosters did have a relatively low uptake rate in the population. That, combined with the fact that the XBB variants look different to your immune system from the [variants used in] previous COVID vaccines, means there’s probably a lot of susceptible individuals in the population,” he explained in an interview published by the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Pekosz said the new variant shouldn’t be of high concern to the generation population. However, he urged those people who are particularly susceptible to severe COVID-19 — including the elderly and those with certain medical conditions — to be more cautious and make sure they have access to testing and antivirals. Additionally, he advised those individuals to consider wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.
Pekosz also noted that the new COVID vaccine, set to be rolled out in the fall, is based on the XBB variants, and therefore should provide good immunity for EG.5. “There should be a nice match between that vaccine and the EG.5 variant, as well as the other XBB variants that are circulating right now,” he explained.
