A top epidemiologist weighs in.
With Covid-19 deaths dropping to a level not seen since March 2020, are we really out of the woods when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic? President Biden offered a more optimistic view, even as hundreds of Americans continue to die each day.
During a 60 Minutes interview at the Detroit Auto Show that aired Sunday, Biden acknowledged that “we still have a problem with Covid,” but that, while there’s still work to be done, “the pandemic is over.”
“If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape, and so I think it’s changing, and I think [the Detroit auto show resuming after three years] is a perfect example of it,” the president told CBS News reporter Scott Pelley.
Amid some public outcry from advocates, we turned to Dr. Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, to see if we can really put Covid-19 in the rearview mirror.
Are we still in a pandemic?
Technically, yes. The National Institutes of Health defines a pandemic as “an epidemic of disease, or other health condition, that occurs over a widespread area (multiple countries or continents) and usually affects a sizable part of the population.”
There also hasn’t been any official declaration that the pandemic is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to make such an announcement, and the World Health Organization warned that the fight continues, though the WHO Director-General told reporters last week, “the end is in sight.” But Dr. Madad says there may not be a dramatic finale.
“We’re now in the age of super transmissible variants and we’re also seeing a lot more waning immunity from vaccinations,” she tells KCM. “And so we’re in a different place now, and I think it’s very hard for any metrics that can tell us that this pandemic is over.”
What does the data say?
According to the CDC, the U.S. is still averaging almost 400 deaths per day (for context, more than 1 million Americans have died from the virus since the pandemic began in early 2020). While this marks an improvement compared to the height of the pandemic when daily deaths topped 1,000, Dr. Madad calls this level “unacceptable,” citing that the flu doesn’t result in nearly as many deaths (for the record, at least 12,000 Americans died of the illness between 2010 and 2020).
“We need to ensure that those 400 Americans have access to the tools and resources and the knowledge that’s made available to everybody so we can get that number as close to zero as possible,” she tells us.
Then there’s the sheer number of Covid cases, which are now topping 54,000. Dr. Madad points out that this figure is likely dramatically higher due to the rise of at-home testing that has led to the underreporting of cases to local health officials. That’s why she recommends staying up-to-date with your vaccines and making sure to mask up in crowded areas or places that have poor ventilation like public transit.
How are advocates and health officials responding to Biden’s remarks?
The president’s remarks were met with some public outcry, including from Americans most at risk.
“While I understand that something like Covid is frustrating, and it’s hard for everyone, it is so much harder for people who have [certain] chronic illnesses and pre-existing conditions, because they haven’t gotten any reprieve ever,” disability activist and DEI educator Kelsey Lindell tells KCM.
Still, Dr. Madad believes Biden likely meant that just the acute phase of the pandemic is over, meaning the U.S. isn’t seeing the same level of deaths and hospitalizations as it was in 2020. “Two things can be true at the same time: “We’re in a better place, but the pandemic is also not over.”
How is the Biden administration continuing to fight Covid?
Though Biden’s public health emergency is set to expire next month, he plans to extend it past the November elections — and possibly into 2023. But the president’s recent comments about the pandemic being over could complicate the administration’s efforts to secure additional funds from Congress to fight Covid-19. After all, Republicans are already questioning whether such a move is even necessary.
But Dr. Madad thinks keeping the declaration in place is a must. Not only does it free up access to vaccines and testing, but it also expands Medicare coverage to millions of Americans who would otherwise lose access to vital health care, such as the latest anti-viral medications.
“We need to provide ongoing services to Americans when it comes to Covid-19,” she says. “We have to make sure that those who don’t have insurance are covered and have access to vaccines and treatment.”
