My wife and I caught Covid back in… I don’t even recall which year. I think it was the winter of 2021 if I recall correctly. My wife got her first and only Covid vaccine shot not long after, whereas I had gotten shot and a booster earlier in the fall or maybe it was later in the spring. Basically, I don’t recall much about the Covid outbreak. It’s all a blur at this point and I’ve basically lost interest. Apparently, I’m not alone. The Washington Post reports this summer is shaping up to be the first since Covid appeared that the government is not facing pressure to limit transmission rates.
The rate of Covid is low nationally – about half of what it was a year ago. In the spring of 2023 Covid was also lower than the year before. Indeed, I heard little about Covid this past winter and recall hearing little about it the winter before. The Washington Post reported that about 2,000 people died of Covid in April 2024. That sounds high but it’s down significantly from earlier in the pandemic when hundreds died each and every day (sometimes more). A graph of new cases per day by USA Facts shows a huge spike at the end of 2021 and into the beginning of 2022. The rates were much lower in 2023. A graphic of deaths by day shows multiple peaks and dips early in the pandemic but trails off to fewer and fewer as time goes by. More from the Washington Post:
Health authorities continue to promote the coronavirus vaccine, last updated in fall 2023 for a subvariant no longer in circulation, as the best form of protection against the disease. But just 23 percent of adults have received a dose of the latest vaccine, according to CDC estimates.
Drug makers appear to be putting less effort into chasing the newest variants, presumably because the Covid risk to public health appears less severe and the profit potential less lucrative than earlier in the pandemic. People are also less enthusiastic about getting the vaccines due to inertia, indifference and possibly cost. It’s no longer free to get a vaccine unless you have health insurance.
Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration are scheduled to meet next week to recommend the composition of the coronavirus vaccine to be released in the fall to protect against the latest variants.
But people without health insurance will no longer qualify for free vaccines under the CDC’s Bridge Access Program, which ends in August after providing more than 1.4 million free shots. Funding for the program ran out, and efforts to establish a broader national program offering free vaccines for adults have languished on Capitol Hill.
I have heard no public health experts claim Covid is gone for good. That would be naïve to think so. I have also heard no experts claim that a huge new wave is coming. We can hope any future outbreaks are less severe such that it will never result in the pandemic that occurred in 2020 to 2021. More from the Washington Post:
As a result, we’re left with a virus that continues to hum in the background as an ever-present pathogen and sporadic killer. In all, the covid pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving global life expectancy, dropping by 1.8 years to 71.4 years from 2019 to 2021, according to a new report by the World Health Organization.
The public’s fear of Covid also appears to be waning. An international survey published the end of 2023 found:
In six of the seven countries, respondents perceived respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution and smoking as a more serious problem than COVID-19.
Perhaps people are ready for Covid to be behind us. Perhaps Americans view Covid as an occasional nuisance like cold and flu season. It may take a significant outbreak before people get vaccinations in large numbers again. In any case, let’s hope the age of closures and lockdowns are behind us.
“People are also less enthusiastic about getting the vaccines due to inertia, indifference and possibly cost.” Wash Post quote: …The covid pandemic wiped out nearly a decade of progress in improving global life expectancy, dropping by 1.8 years to 71.4 years from 2019 to 2021, according to a new report by the World Health Organization.” Both statements entirely ignore the elephant in the room: Covid vaccine side effects.
Twenty-three percent uptake seems high given the frequency of side effects and the limited 2 to 4 months protection offered. But I guess it’s not surprising given that providers push it at every encounter. My GP offers it at every visit, even though he knows my second shot resulted in an overnight hospital stay and a prescription for beta blockers that I haven’t completely tapered off of after three years. I assume he offers it because he’s required to.