Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University, said: “It feels almost like a different illness to people, except for those who are really old, those who are not vaccinated, and those who are immunosuppressed.”
The gap between booster shots and access to antivirals also puts some Americans at higher risk.Black and Hispanic people targeted for boosters Received a shot at a lower rate More than whites, reflecting what some epidemiologists describe as a limited effort in some states to put boosters within easy reach. Patients who do not have a family doctor or who live far away from the pharmacy can also have difficulty getting antiviral medications.
According to epidemiologists, the number of Covid patients in hospital is still increasing nationwide, and the number of deaths is likely to continue to increase gradually. It is unclear how strong the waves will hit areas with low vaccination, such as the South, where immunity from past infections has increased.
“Unfortunately, vaccination rates in many southern states are one of the lowest in the country,” said Jason Salemi, a professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida. “But there is certainly a lot of immunity accumulated by previous infections.”
Although fewer cases are fatal, the unprecedented numbers of infections this winter and spring pose serious problems in their own right. In the United States, recent studies have shown that one in five adult survivors of Covid under the age of 65 handle several versions of long Covid. Many people, including doctors, are missing out on work, and their absence this spring puts a regular burden on hospitals that already have staffing problems.
Dr. Karan of Stanford University said the symptoms would last from the match against Covid in January to April. A month later he was infected again. As of last week, a surge in subvariants that hit California reduced the team of five doctors in one of his hospitals to two due to Covid’s absence, for some patients. He said he delayed the consultation.
