The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a state of emergency three years ago this month due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.finished. Yet at least one person still dies from the virus every four minutes, and questions about how to deal with the virus remain unanswered. That puts people at high risk of severe disease and countries with inadequate vaccinations at risk.
The key question is how to deal with a virus that is less threatening to most people than it used to be, but still extremely dangerous to some. Covid-19 is still the leading cause of death, ranking third in the United States last year after heart disease and cancer.
But unlike other common causes of death, such as smoking and traffic accidents, that have led to legislation on safety measures, politicians have been aggressive about ways to control infection, such as making vaccinations mandatory and wearing masks in closed spaces. not really pushing forward.
Even before the WHO ended its state of emergency, most governments had already eased lockdowns and guidelines. Global leaders, who spent huge sums of money in the early days of the pandemic, have scaled back measures and are reluctant to pursue preventative measures when their citizens are nearing the end of their patience.
Meanwhile, corona infections continue to evolve. Older people and those with underlying health conditions will be left in luck, have uneven access to healthcare, and will find it difficult to protect themselves without recent mask-wearing and vaccinations.
what should we do
The good news is that vaccines have been developed and treatments are improving. The presence or absence of infection can be determined in a few minutes by testing, and new spread of infection can be detected at an early stage.
Health experts say vaccination is the best prevention. But compared to nearly 70% coverage after the first dose, only about 16% of Americans received the bivalent booster, according to Pfizer. Increased out-of-pocket costs and vaccine fatigue could further reduce coverage. In the long term, innovative vaccines and nasal formulations are expected to provide better protection.
And there are other improvements that could help, from ventilation and air quality testing to better masks. They also need to invest in surveillance systems to catch threats early, experts say.
The U.S. also plans to invest $5 billion in new projects aimed at working with drug makers to develop advanced vaccines and treatments against coronavirus. The aim is to make medicines readily available in line with mutations.
“Despite government enthusiasm, we have to face the reality that the virus is still evolving,” said virologist Linhua Wang, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Duke-NUS School of Medicine in Singapore. pointed out.
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news-rsf-original-reference paywall">Original title:Covid Kills One Person Every Four Minutes as Vaccine Rates Fall(excerpt)
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2023-05-25 04:28:13