How bad will this winter’s COVID-19 wave be? That’s what Andy asks epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina, who’s been watching Europe closely and combing through the data on new variants. She predicts that a winter wave is about 90% likely and explains her biggest worries – an Omicron subvariant called BQ.1.1 and a simultaneous flu wave with fewer masking requirements. She and Andy also discuss how the fall bivalent booster will hold up against new winter variants, why uptake is still so low, and how to plan for gatherings with friends and family this holiday season.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt.

Follow Katelyn Jetelina on Twitter @dr_kkjetelina.

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Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Subscribe to Katelyn’s newsletter, “Your Local Epidemiologist”: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/about
• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, “Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response”: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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For additional resources, information, and a transcript of the episode, visit lemonadamedia.com/show/inthebubble.

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