CDC director predicts "impending doom" — moving forward

At the White House pandemic briefing last Monday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), expressed her “recurring feeling of impending doom” as John Hopkins University reports that the number of coronavirus cases in the nation has surpassed 30.2 million.

The new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.7, was originally spotted in the United Kingdom in September 2020. According to many sources including Dr. Francis Collins, director at the National Institute of Health, the B.1.1.7 variant is “43 to 90 percent more transmissible than pre-existing variants … and likely accounts already for at least one-third of all cases in the United States.” The new variant is also accompanied by a 55% greater risk of severe illness and death compared to other variants.

Another factor contributing to the 10% increase in infected is the growing perception that everything is back to normal. According to data as of Mar. 31, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, and Wyoming have no requirements at the state or local levels to enforce the use of face coverings in public. 14 states including South Carolina are only requiring facial coverings on local levels. Most states have also “loosened restrictions on things like bars and restaurants,” according to NPR health correspondent, Rob Stein.

President Joe Biden called for governors and mayors to keep their mask mandates. A national mask mandate was one of his plans since before the beginning of his term. Walensky pleaded with the American people to be patient as President Biden promises that 90% of Americans aged 16 and older will be able to get vaccinated at local pharmacies by Apr. 19.

The University of South Carolina - Aiken has been administering the Moderna vaccine for a few weeks now. According to a new CDC study of healthcare workers, the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are 80% effective after the first dose and 90% effective two weeks after the second dose.

Anthony Fauci, American physician-scientist, immunologist, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and chief medical advisor to the president expressed a similar sentiment as Walensky, explaining, “That's the reason why we're essentially pleading with people even though we [all] have … an urge, … to just cut loose. We've just got to hang in there a bit longer.”