Of all the changes that have occurred in the last two years, one of the most remarkable is a complete revolution in our culture and society. The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we think. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the preeminent institution charged with responding to public health challenges. They update the media regularly, especially when an outbreak occurs or if there is any change from what they have previously declared.
Therefore, Ethnic Media Services offered a briefing session where experts were asked about the effects that health measures and treatments such as vaccination have had in the fight against COVID-19.
John T. Brooks, CDC Emergency COVID-19 Response Chief Scientific Advisor, said, "The United States is better prepared for a large surge with a lot of things going for it, as the country has high immunity."
He stated that "it is very encouraging to see a historic decline in COVID-19 cases." However, he said, they continue to keep a close eye on the statistics because some areas have seen small increases recently and it is not known what they may lead to in the long term. "The variant has been in the U.S. for two months and has increased slightly," Brooks said regarding the BA2 variant that accounts for 35% of the variants circulating in the country.
"There is no evidence that it can lead to more severe disease or invade immune protection," he cautioned, but there has been a marked increase in transmission in the northeastern region of the U.S., so "any signs of an uptick that might burden hospitals are being watched very closely."
In the same arena, Shannon Stokley, M.D., of the CDC's COVID-19 response vaccination team, said that from a year and a half ago to now, 559 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, triple what is typically administered in a flu season. "The mRNA vaccines have proven to be safe and effective in preventing complications," he said, and included severe illness, hospitalization or death.
Regarding the vaccine for children under five, he says that several manufacturers are conducting clinical trials to ensure the safety and efficacy of this vaccine, and that once completed, "the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) should submit an application if there is sufficient evidence to prove it"; it would then be authorized on an urgent basis. He stressed that his goal is "to get to a point where there are no more lives affected by this virus thanks to vaccines and prevention measures in communities."
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