- Combating coronavirus in 2021 will be more challenging in 2020 due to new mutations, according to a World Health Organization official.
- While current vaccines are expected to be effective against new mutations, the newly discovered strains are considered to be much more infectious than the original.
- New coronavirus mutations have been found in the United Kingdom, Japan and South Africa.
The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines is likely to end the global coronavirus pandemic sometime in 2022, according to many health experts. Still, there are likely to be millions of new infections and countless associated deaths before we can leave the coronavirus behind forever.
Especially with the arrival of mutant and more infectious strains of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that fighting COVID in 2021 may be more challenging than in 2020.
Best deal of the day 
Purell is still so hard to find in stores – but there are DEEP discounts on Amazon! List price:$ 75.60 Price:$ 51.90 ($ 0.54 / Fl Oz) You save:$ 23.70 (31%) 
Available on Amazon, BGR can receive a commission Available on Amazon BGR can receive a commission
“We are entering a second year of this, it may be even more difficult due to the dynamics of transmission and some of the problems we are seeing,” WHO emergency officer Dr. Mike Ryan said recently during an online event.
“Certainly in the northern hemisphere,” Ryan continued, “and particularly in Europe and North America, we saw this kind of perfect storm of the season: cold, people coming in, increased social mix and a combination of factors that drove increased transmission in many, many countries. “
Unfortunately, Ryan’s prediction is already happening right before our eyes here in the United States. As Dr. Fauci and other health experts warned, January is on its way to being the worst month of the entire pandemic.
The United States is currently averaging about 250,000 new coronavirus infections per day, a record number that is five times the rate of infection in early October. This increase, it is important to note, is not simply a function of more widespread tests, as we have seen a corresponding increase in coronavirus-related deaths during the same period. Last Tuesday, the US reported 4,406 COVID-related deaths over a 24-hour period, a record number.
More broadly, Ryan earlier this week added that the coronavirus pandemic should serve as a kind of warning to the global community, because future pandemics could be much more deadly.
“This pandemic was very severe, it spread across the world extremely quickly and affected every corner of the planet,” said Ryan a few days ago. “But this is not necessarily the big problem. This virus is very transmissible and kills people, deprived so many people of loved ones. But its current mortality is reasonably low compared to other emerging diseases. This is a wake-up call. “
About how the vaccination effort is going in the USA, The New York Times’ The vaccine tracker reports that the United States has received 30.6 million doses of vaccines and that 11.1 million Americans have been vaccinated so far. In the future, the Trump administration said recently that it will send more doses of vaccines to states that can administer them more quickly. States unable to vaccinate their population quickly, in turn, will receive fewer doses.
As an excellent example of the inefficiencies that continue to plague the launch of the COVID-19 vaccine, Michigan received approximately 831,000 doses, but administered only about 332,140 injections.
A longtime Mac user and Apple enthusiast, Yoni Heisler has been writing about Apple and the technology industry in general for over 6 years. His writings were published in Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK and, more recently, TUAW. When not writing and analyzing the latest events with Apple, Yoni enjoys watching Improv shows in Chicago, playing football and cultivating new addictions to TV shows, the most recent examples being The Walking Dead and Broad City.