WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. have fallen sharply over the past two weeks, but remain at alarmingly high levels, and the effort to eliminate COVID-19 is becoming a race every more urgent between the vaccine and the mutant virus.
The government’s leading infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, said the improved figures across the country appear to reflect a “natural peak and then plateau” after an increase in holidays, rather than the arrival of the vaccine in mid-December.
The U.S. records just under 3,100 deaths a day on average, down from more than 3,350 less than two weeks ago. New cases reach an average of about 170,000 a day after reaching a high of almost 250,000 on 11 January.
States that have been hot spots in recent weeks, such as California and Arizona, have shown similar improvements over the same period.
On Monday, California withdrew regional home stay orders in favor of county-by-county restrictions and ended the curfew at 10 p.m. The change will allow restaurants and churches to resume outdoor operations and hairdressing and opening salons to be reopened in many places, although local officials could maintain stricter rules.
Elsewhere, Minnesota school districts have begun returning primary school students for face-to-face learning. The school system in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest district, was expected to return teachers Monday to prepare for students to return next month, but the teachers ’union has refused. Illinois announced that more counties will be able to offer limited covered meals.
“I don’t think the dynamic of what we’re seeing now with planning is still significantly influenced (it will be soon), but still by the vaccine. I just think it’s the natural course of planning,” Fauci told the NBC’s “Today” network. “
Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington, said the projected rise in vacations was reduced by people traveling less than expected, and that since then an increase in use of masks in response to rising infections has helped reduce the number.
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said so far few people have been vaccinated because they have had a significant impact on virus trends. He said he cannot predict how long it will take to reflect the effects of vaccines on the figures.
Rivers said he is concerned that the most contagious variants of the virus could cause a deadly resurgence later this year.
“I think we were on track to have a good – or better, at least – spring and summer, and I’m concerned that the variants could throw us a curved ball,” he said.
Across the country, approximately 18 million people, or less than 6% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine, including about 3 million who have received the second shot, according to the Centers for Control and Prevention. of Diseases. Just over half of the 41 million doses distributed to states by the federal government have been injected into weapons, according to the CDC count.
The virus has killed more than 419,000 Americans and infected more than 25 million, with a widely cited model from the University of Washington predicting that the death toll will reach about 569,000 on May 1.
And health experts have warned that the most contagious and possibly deadliest variant crossing Britain is likely to become the dominant source of infection in the US in March. So far more than 20 states have been reported. Another mutant version is circulating in South Africa.
The more the virus spreads, the more chances it has to mutate. The fear is that it will ultimately make vaccines ineffective.
To protect himself from the new variants, President Joe Biden on Monday added South Africa to the list of more than two dozen countries whose residents are subject to coronavirus-related limits to enter the United States.
Most non-U.S. Citizens who have been to Brazil, Ireland, Britain, and other European nations will be barred from entering the United States under Biden’s rules after President Donald Trump moved to relax them.
Fauci said scientists are already preparing to adjust COVID-19 vaccines to combat mutated versions.
He said there is “a slight and modest decrease” in the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against these variants, but “there is enough cushion with the vaccines we have that we still consider effective” against both.
Moderna, a manufacturer of one of two vaccines used in the United States, announced Monday that it is beginning testing a possible booster dose against the South African variant. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the measure was out of “a lot of caution” after preliminary lab tests suggested his shot produced a weaker immune response to that variant.
Vaccine deployment in the United States has been marked by chaos and confusion, with states complaining in recent days about shortages and inadequate deliveries that have forced them to cancel mass vaccination events and tens of thousands of appointments.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the shortage is preventing the city from opening more large-scale vaccination sites.
“Here’s New York City ready to vaccinate at the rate of half a million New Yorkers a week, but we don’t have the vaccine to go with it,” de Blasio said. “Many other places in the country are ready to do so much more.”
Associated Press writers from across the United States contributed to this report.
Find full AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
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