Julie Watson / Carla K. Johnson / AP
Three months after the start of the vaccination campaign in the United States, many figures provide an encouraging picture, as 70% of people over 65 have received at least one dose of the vaccine and the daily mean number 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 within weeks. And the White House said it will distribute 27 million vaccines next week, both one and two doses, more than three times as many as when President Joe Biden took office two months ago.
Still, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist, said on Wednesday that he is still unwilling to declare victory.
“They often ask me if we’re around the corner,” Fauci said at a press conference at the White House. “My answer is that we are probably in the corner. Whether we’ll fold it or not remains to be seen. “
Fauci is confident that the number of new infections will remain at a high level, more than 50,000 per day. The United States surpassed 30 million confirmed cases on Wednesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The current death toll is over 545,000.
However, the outlook in the United States is in stark contrast to the worsening situation in places like Brazil, which first reported more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in one day on Tuesday, or in Europe, where a new wave of infections emerged. have led to new quarantines.
The situation in Europe has deteriorated as production delays and doubts about the safety and efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have slowed the vaccination campaign.
Public health experts in the United States insist that relaxation of preventive measures, such as social distancing, could easily spark another 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 significant increase in the number of people traveling by air and in the crowds of vacationers partying out of control in Florida.
“We are approaching the exit,” said Topol. “What we do with all these reopenings jeopardizes our chance to contain the virus, finally and for the first time since the arrival of the pandemic.”