For most Americans, Covid-19 is in the rear-view mirror. Indoor mask use has plummeted, vaccination rates remain sluggish, and, a recent Axios-Ipsos poll shows, few Americans are taking extra steps to avoid infection before going on vacation. Many Americans seem to think the pandemic is now “endemic,” meaning that it will not cause unexpected disruptions to daily lives.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 continues to have what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers a high or medium effect in 73% of U. S. counties. U. S. About 400 Americans still die within a day or two, and that number has remained steady for several months. If those 400 daily deaths were to continue, the U. S. would lose about 150,000 lives to the virus each year, making it the third-leading cause of death in the country after core diseases and cancer.
Tragically, the vast majority of Covid-19 deaths are now preventable, if all Americans were up to date on their vaccinations and if those most at risk were treated quickly after testing positive. If all this were to happen, Covid deaths in the United States would be close to zero, as Dr. Ashish Jha, coordinator of the White House Covid-19 response team, recently told the U. S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
What can the nation do to make that happen? Put simply, we must embrace the notion that Covid-19 deaths are largely preventable, not inevitable. Instead of trying to put those deaths out of mind, we should focus on what we can do to stop them.
Why are 400 Americans still dying each day? For starters, 15 million seniors have not received their first booster, and only 33% of Americans over 50 and 40% over 65 have received their second booster. In addition, over 20% of adults have not completed their primary vaccination series.
The health effects of this are considerable. The CDC estimates that among people 50 and older, unvaccinated people had a 29-fold increased risk of dying from Covid-19 and people vaccinated with a single booster dose had a 4-fold increased risk. than those who won two or more booster doses.
Meanwhile, the oral antiviral drug Paxlovid, which reduces rates of people at higher risk of severe COVID-19 or death from it, is more limited in zip codes where other people were more vulnerable to the virus. Access to and awareness of Evushield, which reduces the threat of other immunocompromised people exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms for up to six months, remains limited.
To keep the impact of Covid-19 in the public consciousness, local health officials deserve to publicly acknowledge when citizens in their communities lose their lives to the virus. For the same reason, local print and broadcast media deserve to cover the network’s memorials. to the deceased. This deserves to motivate citizens in communities to help each other access and make full use of the equipment that is available to all Americans, whether it’s vaccines or treatments.
Local faith-based organizations, businesses, and other trusted network leaders are redoubling their efforts to remind Americans that their moves on COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and treatment can make a tangible difference to their network.
Health care professionals should use every office visit, even if unrelated to Covid-19, to remind patients about the need to stay up to date with their vaccinations and have a plan to access treatment if they test positive and are eligible for treatment. The medical community’s attention to preventing and managing chronic conditions such as obesity and diabetes is now even more vital given their detrimental impact on Covid-19 outcomes.
As fall approaches and the crusade to convince all eligible Americans to get the new bivalent vaccine begins before our third winter of Covid-19, we do not remain unmoved by the daily cost of lives lost to the pandemic.
The emergency may be over and, as individuals, we may personally be “over” Covid-19, but we cannot forget the tools we now have to fight the pandemic moving forward – tools that can help save almost all the lives we are losing and get us closer to zero deaths. That is a goal that, even in these bitterly divisive times, we should all be able to unite around.
Full coronavirus policy and updates.