Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreaks, Vaccination, Politics and Society: The Continuing Challenge

Abstract

Historically, the world debilitated in 1920s by the First World War and sickened by the 1918 flu pandemic came in three waves that killed in the USA alone, an estimated 675,000 people. But, the COVID-19 lasted much longer than Influenza 1918, and despite medical advances, COVID-19 took a toll of more than 6,373739 globally and around 1,015,897 in the USA alone. The USA is the number one in total COVID-19 mortality as of  22 July, 2022, followed by Brazil, India and Russian Federation. Intensity of COVID-19 wave, third wave, Delta and Omicron variants, particularly BA.2, caused havoc in both the developed and developing countries. It all started and initially named South Africa variant, Brazilian variant, the UK variant, and an Indian variant of Omicron. According to a Dutch health agency, the Omicron was already in the Netherlands a week before South Africa reported the new variant to the World Health Organization. As of July 21, 2022,  67% Americans were fully vaccinated and 48.2 percent of fully vaccinated population received booster shots, as widespread availability of various vaccines in the USA helped to reduce cases in the spring and early summer. However, the Delta variant led to a renewed spike in cases and hospitalizations nationwide later in the year 2021. In December of 2021, daily COVID-19 cases in the USA climbed to record highs due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant (Reuters, 2022)