As we move on to the new year, almost everyone knows what Covid-19 is and the precautions we need to take to stay safe. As even more cases arise with record-breaking infections and deaths occurring every day, we can only question how the new government will tackle this problem and how long it will last. Here are some news and updates on Covid-19. 

Statistics and Data (Worldwide)

There are now over 96.2 million cases worldwide with over 2.06 million deaths. There are also a record 53.1 million recoveries in total. Just from our last update, there were more than 43.9 million new cases, around 770,000 new deaths, and more than 19 million new recoveries.

Statistics and Data (United States)

Within America alone, there are now over 24.5 million cases and now over 406,000 deaths. There are also over 15 million recoveries as well. There are over a record number of Covid cases and deaths in America alone, and they’ll probably not be diminishing anytime soon. The US still stands as the most infected country in the world.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Covid-19 Plan/Team (Part 2)

From our last update, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have already set up a plan just two days after election results by creating a health team or task force made up of America’s leading physicians, health experts, and public servants. The members of the health team are Xavier Becerra, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, Dr. Rochelle Walenski, Natalie Quillian, and Jeff Zients. As this new team is now active, we can hope for better plans on how we can combat this virus. So far, these are the people that were announced, but more are said to be added to the team.

Vaccine Release

Finally, at just the beginning of this year, there are two approved and available vaccines in America. The groups that released the approved vaccines are Moderna and Pfizer. As released by the company sent to the FDA, the Moderna vaccine provides an 80.2% protection rate through the first dosage and increases through future doses (the second dose increases the rate to 94.5-95.6%. Anyone over 65 has an 86.4% protection rate for the first dose). Pfizer also revealed their vaccine provides a 95% protection rate. As mentioned in the last update, Pfizer is one of the largest pharmaceutical corporations in the world; Moderna is also a large pharmaceutical corporation but located in America. Although there are two available vaccines for Covid-19, there are many comparisons on better results, costs, the quantity of the vaccines, etc. Regardless, we now have a working vaccine that can change the outlook on Covid-19 this year.

The Future and What will happen.

So many numbers have increased since the first update (deaths, cases, recoveries), which is very alarming. But now that things are progressing, especially with the newly released vaccines, we can feel a little at ease and hope for the better of this new year. This is the update on Covid for the new year, 2021. Remember to stay sanitized, stay indoors, and when going outside WEAR A MASK AT ALL TIMES!!!