In the US, over 38,000 Coronavirus infected people died within the first two weeks of January 2021. Now the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that another 92,000 people could die because of SARS-CoV-2 caused disease over roughly the next three weeks.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, the US has lost more than 384,000 Americans, while over 23 million people were found to be infected by the virus. The new projection by the federal agency is horrific, about which healthcare experts have repeatedly warned.
Hospitalization
According to the COVID Tracking Project, currently, there are more than 130,300 people who are hospitalized because of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Officials from Pennsylvania said that the number of hospitalizations is nearing double the peak that was noticed during the spring. While Louisiana's governor said earlier this week that the state was witnessing a "huge spike" in infections and hospitalizations, Arizona officials this week reported record-high COVID-19 hospitalization cases and ICU numbers.
Data showed that since the beginning of the pandemic, in Los Angeles County, almost one in three people has been infected with the virus. In terms of Washington DC, cases have never been higher, but now, it is averaging more than 320 cases per day, indicating a 38 percent jump from the previous week.
Mass Vaccination Can Help
For a long time, experts have been asking people to trust the vaccines. According to them, along with other safety measures, immunization will also help people to get back their normal lives and avoid more deaths in the US. Some states are also coming up with new options to reduce the load on the healthcare system and avoid a greater number of COVID-19 related deaths.
As of now, over 29.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed all over the US. According to the data from the CDC, more than 10 million Americans have received their first dose of vaccines which will protect people from the deadly virus.
Experts have encouraged some states to open vaccine eligibility to more groups. In New Jersey, people aged 65 or above and residents between 14 and 64 with certain chronic health issues are now eligible to sign up to get vaccine shots.
California, one of the hard-hit states with more than 31,000 deaths, has expanded its eligibility guidelines to include residents 65 and older. "Individuals 65 and older are now the next groups eligible to start receiving vaccines. To those not yet eligible for vaccines, your turn is coming," said Governor Gavin Newsom.
As reported, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week that he is now working on a plan to use the Yankee Stadium as a vaccination site. His announcement came after the mayor and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen said that a vaccine mega-site will be set up in Queens' Citi Field in January.
Similarly, Hawaii officials said that they are opening two new vaccination centers and hope that through this process they would be able to vaccinate between 3,000 and 4,000 people daily. Meanwhile, in California, Disneyland Resort is Orange County's first "super" Covid-19 vaccination site. Reports said, on its opening day, Wednesday, January 13, hundreds of cars had lined up.
