July 2025 Newsletter

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cases of COVID-19 are growing in 25 states. A new analysis concluded that the virus has settled into twice-a-year surges, typically peaking first in July through September and then again in late December through February. These surges appear to be linked to cycles of genetic changes to a part of the virus, the spike proteins, and are expected to persist as long as the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 develops.

In the first 6 months of 2025, the RECOVER Initiative has continued to advance our understanding of long COVID via clinical trials, publishing new findings and launching new pathobiology studies. This year, RECOVER will continue to publish results from the initiative’s studies and focus on providing deeper insight into who is affected by long COVID and the wide range of long COVID symptoms that different groups of people experience.

A new study from the National Institutes of Health aimed to determine associations between social determinants of health at the time of COVID-19 infection and risk for developing long COVID.

Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the “conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.”

There are five domains: economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, social and community context and neighborhood and built environment.
 
The COVID-19 pandemic reinforced the overwhelming influence of SDoH on health disparities. The study investigated 3,700+ adults, 11% of which developed long COVID, and their social determinants of health. Those with social risk factors such as financial hardship, food insecurity, less than a college education and lack of social support, were found to have a higher chance of developing long COVID.
 
These findings suggest that social risk factor interventions may be helpful in mitigating the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection.

A new strain of COVID that was unheard of months ago is now projected to be one of the most common strains in the United States. Variant NB.1.8.1, ‘Nimbus,’ was first detected globally in January 2025, accounting for 0% of COVID-19 cases in the United States. By early June, it was estimated to account for up to 37% according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Although there are no outlined symptoms specific to this variant, an extremely sore throat, called “razor blade throat,” has been associated with NB.1.8.1.
 
The World Health Organization states that currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective against NB.1.8.1.

Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) recently added another COVID-19 variant to its list of variants under monitoring: XFG, or ‘Stratus’. This variant has accounted for 14% of confirmed cases in the United States this summer. XFG, coupled with the ‘Nimbus’ variant (NB.1.8.1), are currently responsible for over 50% of cases.
 
WHO states that currently approved COVID-19 vaccines are expected to remain effective against XFG along with NB.1.8.1. WHO has also stated that antiviral drugs, like Paxlovid, should also be effective.

Researchers working on treatments and cures for long COVID are closely watching Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathon Toews’s healing journey — and his return to the NHL after two years.
 
Toews has been named one of the 100 greatest NHL players. But in December 2020, Toews announced he was sitting out due to complications from COVID-19 infection, later revealing it was long COVID. Toews missed the NHL’s 2021 season due to fighting fatigue and inflammation, returned for two seasons, and stepped away again in August 2023 to get his health under control.
 
Toews said he feels great but is trying to be honest and realistic about the challenges facing him in the upcoming season. Angela Cheung, MD, PhD, one of the leading long COVID researchers in Canada, suggests that Toews — and anyone else experiencing long COVID — needs to make sure to not do more than their body can handle.
 
“Go slow and steady […] we always think of having a pot of energy … stress will take from energy from that pot,” she says.

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