People's CDC, COVID-19, Weather Report, June 30, 2025

Wastewater COVID levels remain stable, variant NB 1.8.1 moves to 1st place on US tracker, RFK’s ACIP breached protocol, presented misinformation & avoided a vote for this fall's COVID vaccine schedule

Jul 01, 2025

The Weather

The most recent CDC national wastewater map, updated on June 26, 2025, shows data from June 15 to June 21 of this year. Light colors throughout the country show that low and very low levels of COVID were found in wastewater.

Guam, Hawaii and Nevada are shown to have high levels. Guam and four other states also have limited data, meaning it is based on less than 5% of the population. There was no data for North Dakota and the US Virgin Islands.

The CDC says that current national levels are “Very Low,” with the West having the highest levels. Remember that even if your state’s overall levels look low, certain areas within it may have higher levels. You can check your state here to see more detailed local data.

A map of the United States displaying COVID Wastewater Viral Activity levels from the dates June 15, 2025 - June 21 2025 using CDC data last updated on June 26, 2025. The map is in warm tones with deeper tones indicating higher viral activity levels and grey areas indicating that no data had been reported. Most of the country is in lighter shades indicating very low or low virus activity. Guam, Hawaii and Nevada are dark toned indicating high viral activity. There is no data for North Dakota and the US Virgin Islands. Four states and Guam have limited data (less than 5% of the population is represented in the data). Text above the map reads: “Two States and One Territory Have High Levels.” At the bottom, the text reads “People’s CDC. Source: CDC.”

Graphic source: CDC

Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Wastewater Trends

Wastewater trends show that the amount of COVID in wastewater remains stable, at low or very low levels across the country. There can be delays in reporting since the last update, which is shown by the grey vertical bar on the right.

Graphic source: CDC

We are closely watching for the summer increases in COVID. Please stock up on or check with a local maskbloc for well fitting masks to help you stay safe from infections with aerosol transmission.

Variants

The CDC’s variant tracking dashboard has a prominent warning: “Due to low numbers of sequences being reported to CDC, precision in the most recent reporting period is low. CDC is moving to longer reporting periods to gather the number of sequences required to provide reliable Nowcast estimates.”

Looking at the Nowcast data table for June 8 through June 21, 2025, NB 1.8.1, also known as “Nimbus”, represents 43% of the US variant samples, overtaking the LP.8.1 variant. There has not been any change in risk to the public or the effectiveness of current vaccines since the World Health Organization (WHO) report from May. The WHO added variant XFG to their global watch list last week. XFG has increased significantly from less than 8% to over 22% in global samples over the last month.

Vaccines

The meeting of CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), deciders of our vaccine schedules, took place last week with RFK’s newly installed members. CDC experts provided evidence of COVID disease burden and benefits of COVID vaccines. You can access the presentation materials (slide presentations), the recorded meetings (COVID portion begins at minute 49.11), and the final votes on all vaccines.

The meeting was both cordial and controversial, with ACIP members’ displaying unusual comments, questions and misinformation (detailed by The Evidence Collective). In the end, there was no ACIP vote on a COVID vaccine schedule. We are in limbo - either the standing CDC recommendations will be in effect for 2025-2026 or the US population is subject to RFK’s ACIP opinions. Yet, we are hopeful from responses such as the letter to Americans from leading medical organizations in support of vaccines, some insurers and health plans assuring access, and concerned professionals working on strategies to help keep vaccines affordable and accessible for all.

Here are two summaries from the COVID presentation:

Despite declines, there remain significant health and death consequences from COVID especially among the youngest and oldest ages:
COVID vaccines are safe and effective, and infants not eligible for the vaccine can be protected by maternal vaccination:

Screenshot that is titled “Summary Benefits and Harms” with the following four bullet points: 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccination is effective in preventing hospitalizations and critical outcomes from COVID-19 in adults. - Data from prior formulations show that vaccine effectiveness has been similar across age groups. COVID-19 vaccines have been continuously monitored through robust safety surveillance - safety surveillance identified and characterized the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. – No other risks confirmed in the current U.S.-licensed vaccines except those seen with other vaccines (e.g., local and systemic reactions, allergic reactions), Pregnant women are at increased risk of severe disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes from COVID-19. Maternal vaccination has been shown to protect infants <6 months of age from severe outcomes of COVID-19.

Flu and RSV Vaccines

There was a surprising amount of attention on safety concerns about thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that prevents growth of bacteria and fungi. Lyn Redwood’s presentation was posted one day before the meeting without CDC review and CDC’s evidence documentation was removed from the meeting materials. Both the FDA and CDC and others have over decades, extensively reviewed and dismissed the thimerosal safety concerns persistently raised by vaccine skeptics and opponents. Vaccines are available without the preservative and the more economical vials that contain more than one dose of vaccine benefit from the preservative. Before it was removed, CDC’s evidence about the safety of thimerosal was downloaded and published here and archived here. Despite a lack of rationale and evidence, ACIP voted to eliminate flu vaccines with thimerosal - swaying to opinion and misinformation.

We’re relieved that the ACIP voted to recommend continuing annual flu and RSV vaccines, paid for through the Vaccines for Children Program and federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. Private insurers, knowing the costs of vaccine preventable disease will also likely continue coverage.

In other vaccine news, after RFK announced an end to US contributions, donors are stepping up to save Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the program that vaccinates over a billion children in the world.

Wins

Last Tuesday, New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdami beat disgraced former Governor and presumptive front-runner Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary. The 33-year-old’s surprise upset was won through coalition building and sincere community outreach, despite the deep funding, name recognition, and smear tactics of Cuomo’s campaign. Notably, Mamdani explicitly opposed mask bans, whereas former Governor Cuomo and candidate Whitney Tilson both voiced strong support for bans. Mamdani is expected to face Republican nominee Curtis Silwa and potentially both Cuomo and disgraced current mayor Eric Adams, another mask ban supporter.

Long COVID

Patient Led Research Collaborative has started a registry that allows people to connect with clinical trials and studies regarding Long COVID. This service is limited to people 18 years of age or older with long COVID “ or other infection-associated chronic illnesses, as well as anyone who wants to help improve understanding and treatment of these conditions!”

Take Action

Given the recent CDC ACIP meeting and the threat of limited access to COVID vaccines, we must demand that members of Congress ensure universal vaccine access and hold RFK Jr. accountable. We call for universal access to COVID vaccines, reinstatement of previous vaccine access policies, reinstatement of all 17 former members of the CDC ACIP, and for a public hearing with RFK Jr. to hold him accountable for his reckless vaccine policy. We also urge you to support legislation such as Senator Blunt Rochester’s VACCINE Act and other efforts to protect affordability and access to vaccines. Submit a letter to your representatives in both the House and Senate via our Action Network, or to members of Congress using their contact information, keeping our letter in full or editing it as you wish.

Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 6/28/2025.2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more at https://peoplescdc.org. 3) Subscribe to our newsletter: People’s CDC | Substack.