Summer has just begun, but health officials are already warning Americans that the coming fall and winter months are likely to be challenging. Once the flu season begins, the US will have to worry not about one but two contagious viruses.
“The real risk is that we are going to have two circulating respiratory pathogens at the same time,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a TIME 100 Talks discussion with the writer. Alice Park. “We know that the flu alone can cause substantial morbidity and mortality and hospital utilization,” especially for older people and those with underlying health problems. With the new coronavirus causing devastation in these groups and others, “this could really be a very, very difficult situation.”
Getting a flu shot is one way to help prevent the flu. But even though flu vaccines are safe and often quite effective, they are not very popular. “Historically, less than half of Americans receive flu shots,” said Redfield. “This is the year that I ask the American public to seriously reconsider, because that decision may make a hospital bed available to someone else who really needs it for COVID.”
So far this summer, when states have begun reopening, Redfield said that more than 100 counties in the United States are “what we consider [coronavirus] hot spots “and” experiencing higher transmission rates than we would like to see. “In response, he said, the CDC is sending teams to those areas and working with state and local health officials to understand how those cases are spreading and what is the best way to contain them.
Redfield also denied that CDC was sidelined during the pandemic; In past outbreaks, the CDC has taken a more visible role in holding press conferences to educate and answer questions from the public. “I would say no,” Redfield said in response to whether the agency has been in the background guiding the country through the pandemic. “We have a seat at the Task Force table[Coronavirus de la Casa Blanca]where I represent the CDC … and we’re presenting those views and I can tell you that those views are heard and respected. “
Right now, the tools Americans have been using for months (standing six feet away, with face covers, washing their hands regularly) are still the best protections against contracting the virus that causes COVID-19. But by late 2020 or early 2021, that arsenal may realistically include one or more coronavirus vaccines, Redfield said.
That’s an incredibly fast timeline for such a vaccine, and three months ago, Redfield would have called it “highly optimistic.” Now, however, “I think there is a real probability that we will succeed. No one can guarantee it, but the amount of progress that has been made in the past few weeks is substantial. “
This article is part of # TIME100Talks: Finding Hope, a special series with leaders in different fields who encourage action towards a better world. They want more? Sign up to access more virtual events, including live conversations with influential news creators.
