The United States is now facing what has been the deadliest month of the pandemic since it began, with 63,000 deaths by Covid-19 in just 27 days -- almost double last month’s toll. This number isn’t expected to dwindle down soon either, with weeks of rising cases looming ahead. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on the last 4-weeks of the pattern of the virus throughout the United States, between 1,200,000 and 2,000,000 new cases are expected to be reported by January 16th.
With the introduction of two effective Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S. why are we expected to another surge, or at least no decline? As a start, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are currently only available to healthcare professionals and staff along with nursing home residents, and the next available doses have been allocated for essential workers. Dr. Anthony Fauci predicts that the general won’t be able to get one of the vaccines until April at the earliest.
In the meantime to help stop the spread of coronavirus, people have been advised to keep wearing masks and stay home as much as possible. However, with the holidays those orders may not have been followed and Dr. Fauci says, “we very well might see a post-seasonal -- in the sense of Christmas, New Years -- surge.” According to the TSA, over 1.2 million people were screened at airports across the country on December 27th -- the most since the beginning of the pandemic in March, and over 616,000 were screened Christmas day.
While John Hopkins University only reported 125,041 new cases and 1,160 new deaths for the U.S. yesterday -- lower numbers than previous weeks -- the projections for after the New Year are, “nightmarish,” says Dr. Peter Hotez. The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation predicts that another 193,000 lives could be lost in the next two months.
Many Americans have let their guards down following the approval of the vaccines, but social distancing and wearing masks are still a must. Hospitals across the country are full, with patients receiving care in hallways and parking lots, dealing with another influx of cases is unimaginable. Even with an additional promising vaccine, Novavax, on the rise it is more important than ever to do your part during this pandemic.