US Coronavirus: The country is one step closer to the authorization of the Covid-19 vaccine. But that’s unlikely to affect the dark and deadly days ahead.

The FDA will then consider that recommendation before making a decision on a USA. Once a vaccine is licensed, Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s initiative to develop a vaccine, can begin shipping and distributing the vaccine to the states. But the vaccines won’t start until after a committee from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine. That advisory committee will meet on Friday and is expected to vote Sunday on the vaccine recommendation.

While the green light for a Covid-19 vaccine will provide a light at the end of the tunnel, leading experts have warned that the worst days of the pandemic are yet to come for the United States. More waves of cases are likely to form as a result of Thanksgiving trips and gatherings that could further increase the number of infections. The United States now has an average of more than 210,000 new cases a day.

And the virus is claiming more American lives every day than ever. Wednesday saw the highest number of daily deaths the US has ever reported, with a staggering 3,124 deaths from Covid-19. More than 2,700 deaths were reported Thursday.

“We’re in the time frame now that probably over the next 60 to 90 days, we’re going to have more deaths per day than we did on September 11,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield. “This is going to be a really regrettable loss of life, like everything we’ve had so far, and the reality is that the approval of the vaccine this week is not going to have a real impact.”

A timeline for the future

The US is not likely to see any significant and widespread impacts from vaccines until well into 2021. But how quickly the country can recover depends on how quickly Americans get vaccinated and how many people are willing. to receive the vaccine. .

“If we have a smooth vaccination program where everyone catches up quickly, we could get back to some form of normalcy, reasonably quickly. In the summer, and certainly in the fall,” Fauci told CNN on Thursday.

“My hope and my projection is that if we get people to get vaccinated en masse so that we get that large percentage of the population, as we get closer to fall, we can have real comfort that people are in schools, safe at school. That K-12, or college, “he added.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said earlier this week that at least 20 million Americans will be able to receive Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the month, 50 million by the end of January, and at least 100 million should be vaccinated by the end of the month. the first. trimester.

“We remain confident that in our multi-vaccine portfolio, we will have enough doses for any American who wants a vaccine by the end of the second quarter of 2021,” added Azar.

America is in crisis

As the country eagerly awaits the first clearance of the Covid-19 vaccine, US state and local leaders are also working to slow the spread of the virus that is ravaging American communities.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday that the state will extend its statewide curfew through Jan. 2, saying officials believe the curfew so far, along with face masks, have had a impact.

In Rhode Island, the governor extended a statewide “pause” on the reopening for another week, saying the situation in the state was “getting terrifying.”

“In this crisis, we continue to lose Rhode Islanders every day and my heart goes out to each and every one of you who are fighting to overcome this pandemic,” said Governor Gina Raimondo. “We’re going to stay home and honor the hiatus for another week.”

Raimondo was not the only governor to express concern about Covid-19 trends this week.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham called the number of hospitalizations “very scary,” with more than 900 patients statewide. At least 159 of them were connected to fans.

“We are getting to a place where it is really terrible,” the governor said.

Meanwhile, Louisiana is on a trajectory toward overwhelming the health care system, as a third increase in Covid-19 cases only continues to rise, the governor said.

“It is on a trajectory that we cannot sustain much longer if we want to preserve that ability to provide life-saving care,” said Governor John Bel Edwards.

Number of infections likely underestimated, says expert

But with most states continuing to report significant numbers of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, one expert says the reported number of cases and deaths in the US is likely underestimated.

Aron Hall, chief of the CDC’s Division of Respiratory Viruses, said Thursday that more than 15 million cases and more than 285,000 deaths have been associated with the virus.

“However, based on surveys and seroprevalence models, the estimated total number of infections is likely two to seven times higher than the reported cases,” Hall said.

“We believe, as with hospitalizations and illnesses, that the reported number of deaths is likely an underestimation of the true number of deaths,” he added later.

And even with promising vaccine news, he said there is a continuing need for measures like face masks, physical distancing and regular hand washing to help end the pandemic.