The US has passed a tragic milestone while the nation recorded more than half a million lives lost to the new coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The gloomy milestone comes just over a month after the country surpassed 400,000 virus-related deaths in January, breaking 300,000 less than a month earlier. President Biden is due to hold a candle lighting ceremony on Monday night, with a moment of silence in memory of the victims.
“This amount of devastation is a plague of our own making,” Dr. Greg Poland, an infectious disease specialist at the Mayo Clinic, told Fox News. “Americans could and should have avoided this by taking science-based recommendations seriously.”
New daily deaths, cases and hospitalizations are decreasing and, although some experts say this is encouraging, the presence of more transmissible variants and the so-called “pandemic fatigue” with relaxing mitigation measures and fewer vaccination options in the spring can significantly extend the time needed to achieve collective immunity, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier.
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“While [a decline in cases] it is certainly promising news, the unfortunate 500,000 death mark should pause us, “wrote Dr. Steven Gordon, head of infectious diseases at the Cleveland Clinic, in part to Fox News.” Behind each death is a dear family member, friend or colleague. “
Gordon recommended wearing a mask, social detachment, frequent hand washing and avoiding meetings until widespread vaccination leads to collective immunity. Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently projected that it is “possible” that Americans still need to wear face masks in 2022, even though the country may approach a certain “degree of normality”.
The news comes amid a feverish vaccination effort, contained by limited supply, with the intention of reducing serious illnesses and deaths in vulnerable populations. More than 18 million Americans (more than 5%) received two doses of vaccines, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, although a third candidate from Johnson & Johnson is pending FDA authorization. An independent panel of experts advising the FDA will meet on Friday to discuss the candidate’s approval.
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The gloomy milestone also comes when preliminary studies assess the impact of rapidly spreading variants on vaccine efficacy, with research pointing to a two-third reduction in antibody levels induced by the Pfizer vaccine against a strain first detected in South Africa , and Moderna reporting a six-fold drop in neutralizing power. The companies said it is unclear what protection the vaccines offer against the variant, although they have already vowed that the jabs would remain effective. Drug makers are now exploring the idea of varying booster doses in an attempt to provide greater protection against strains.
However, vaccinating the population of the United States will not win the pandemic; Experts say vaccination worldwide will eventually prevent the emergence of variants and put an end to a pathogen responsible for at least 2.5 million deaths worldwide.