The United States is still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for now — only among the unvaccinated. Laboratory clinical scientist Rodney E. Rohde and immunologist Ryan McNamara bring us the story.
On January 8, 2021, new cases of COVID-19 in the United States peaked at over 300,000 in a single day. As vaccines began to roll out, that number plummeted over the next few months to around 8,000 new cases a day in June of this year. Since then, infection rates have risen again to over 60,000 cases a day as of July 23. Over ninety five percent of those recent cases have occurred among the population that remains unvaccinated. Vaccination rates have also tumbled, and communities that were once scrambling to find doses to meet demand, now find themselves sitting on a stockpile of vaccines that may soon expire. With still more than half the U.S. population unvaccinated and new virus variants emerging, what risks are we facing in the ongoing pandemic. Joining the Monday Buzz is Rodney E. Rohde, Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science at Texas State University. Also joining us is Ryan McNamara, Research Associate of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
