Three months after the start of the vaccination campaign in the United States, many of the figures draw an encouraging picture, since 70% of the inhabitants over 65 have received at least one dose of the vaccine and the daily average of deaths has dropped below 1,000 for the first time since November.
Dozens of states have offered vaccines to all adults or plan to do so in a matter of weeks. And the White House said that next week it will distribute 27 million vaccines both one and two doses, more than triple the number when President Joe Biden took office two months ago.
Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectologist, said Wednesday that he is still unwilling to declare victory.
“They often ask me if we are turning the corner,” Fauci said at a news conference at the White House. “My answer is that we are probably in the corner. Whether we will bend it or not remains to be seen. “
Fauci relies on the fact that the numbers of new infections remain at a high level, more than 50,000 a day. The United States surpassed 30 million confirmed cases on Wednesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The current death toll exceeds 545,000.
However, the outlook in the United States stands in stark contrast to the deterioration of the situation in places like Brazil, which on Tuesday reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time, or in Europe, where a new wave of contagions has led to new quarantines.
The situation in Europe has worsened as production delays and doubts about the safety and efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have slowed the immunization campaign.
Public health experts in the United States insist that loosening preventive measures such as social distancing could easily spark a new wave.
Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, sees red flags in the fact that some states have lifted the requirement for the use of masks, in the considerable increase in the number of people who travel by air, and in the crowds of vacationers partying out of control in Florida.
“We are approaching the exit ramp,” said Topol. “What we are doing with all these reopens is putting at risk our opportunity to, finally and for the first time since the arrival of the pandemic, to contain the virus.”
