“One of the things that worries me is the footage of what’s happening in spring breakers, in people who don’t continue to apply prevention strategies when we’re completely minimized,” said Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Valensky said during the White House cove. 19 Briefing.
He added, “We need to stop there for a while because we can see a time in the next few months where a lot of us will be vaccinated and we can really cut the infection rate.”
“If we choose to invest in prevention now, we will finally get out of this epidemic quickly and fewer lives have been lost,” the CDC director said.
So when the U.S. Closing the corner is approaching, it’s not there yet. Thousands of new cases and hundreds of virus-related deaths continue to be added to the country every day.
The country’s leading infectious disease specialist Dr. “I don’t think you can declare victory and say you’ve turned the corner when you’re at that level,” Anthony Fawcett said during the briefing. “We have to keep doing what we’re doing: more vaccinations and continue to take public health measures until we really turn the corner.”
‘A Glimpse of Hope for All of Us’
The good news: Vaccination already makes a difference.
CCC data show that vaccination speeds have doubled in less than two months, and now more than 70% of people over the age of 65 have received at least one shot.
The Kovid-1 case rate, mortality rate and hospital admissions have also seen a significant decline in the population aged 65 and above compared to other age groups, and now a large proportion of total hospital admissions made a few months ago. CDC data.
Nursing homes, which have been a priority for vaccinations across the country since the start of the rollouts, have the lowest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths since tracking began in May, according to data from Medicare and Medicaid services centers. .
Some recent studies have also shown that vaccines protect healthcare workers, Valensky and Fausi said during a briefing on Wednesday.
“These findings should be a tweak of hope for all of us and serve as a catalyst for everyone to put on their own sleeves when the vaccine is available.”
A total of vaccines have so far saved the lives of at least 40,000 Americans, Dr. Tom Frieden, a former CDC director, told CNN on Wednesday night.
“They’re remarkably effective, they’re remarkably safe,” Frieden said.
What can stand in the way of more vaccinations
The Pfizer vaccine is the only one available for use by people 16 and older, while the Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines are authorized for people 18 and older.
As eligibility opens, some local officials worry that the challenge soon will be short supply rather than short supply.
That could happen within the next four to six weeks, says Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the county’s National Association and City Health Officers.
“We’re going to get to the point where we’re saying ‘OK, now we’re in a really tough phase of this where we’re coming down to a population that’s not so ready to get vaccinated,'” Freeman said.
She added that the last mile of “people hesitating” would be challenging, he added. And other experts and officials have also expressed concern about that last drag.
“Hesitation is a concern not only here, but across the country, and I as a country expect that we will get 0% in the vaccination rate of the population. But we will have a difficult time of 0% to 70%,” Arkansas Govt. Asa Hutchinson told CNN earlier this week.
“It’s about overcoming skepticism, it’s about education,” he said.
CNN’s Didre McPhillips, Jacqueline Howard, Dina Hackney contributed to this report.
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