Client Update

The global COVID-19 Pandemic has passed its one-year anniversary recently.  The death toll stateside has exceeded half a million deaths since, with a total of roughly 28 million infections.  Despite these grim numbers, there are valid reasons to think positively about our ability to contain and possibly eliminate the pandemic.  The following are a few recent trends and developments related to the effort to curb the pandemic:

· Based on the most recent numbers provided by Reuters , COVID-19 infections are currently decreasing in the US, with 68,240 new infections reported on average daily.  That is just 27% of the peak infection numbers, which was at its highest recently on January 7^th, 2021.

· Initial vaccine deployment in the US has had a slow start, but availability is steadily increasing. So far, roughly 75 million doses have been administered to the American public; though, that does not account for the number of people vaccinated, just the number of shots given.

·  A third (the first two being from Pfizer and Moderna respectively) COVID-19 Vaccine created by Johnson & Johnson was authorized by the FDA on Saturday, February 27^th for emergency use.  Deliveries of the vaccine should start on Tuesday, March 2^nd according to the Biden Administration. According to trials, it boasts a 72% efficacy rate, 85% efficacy rate against severe forms of COVID-19 and 100% efficacy against hospitalization and death. Johnson & Johnson has pledged to make available over 100 million doses by the end of June.  The new vaccine is only one dose (vs. the two of the other authorized vaccines) and does not require the same strict storage requirements of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, which experts say is a huge boon to the effort of getting more Americans vaccinated quickly.

It is unclear exactly what the future holds, and how the pandemic will evolve over time.  What is clear though, is that the combined efforts of government, private enterprise, and the collective efforts of society as a whole is allowing us to make positive strides in combating the pandemic.

We are several months into the COVID-19 pandemic.  Governments around the world have instituted measures to contain the virus, with varying degrees of scope and success.  Lockdowns, quarantines and policies of social distancing are among the tools that have been deployed to help mitigate the spread.  Naturally, these policies have upended the day-to-day lives of a large percentage of the world’s population.

We are inundated with grim news of death tolls and economic strife, which are very real and need to be considered.  Despite the tragedies that permeate our society, there is good news.  The following are just some recent developments that give us reasons to be optimistic:

·     New cases, hospitalizations and deaths related of COVID-19 are dwindling internationally in some major cities which were considered COVID-19 “hotspots,” such as New York City and London, per their respective government statistics.

·     Scientists are generally optimistic about the prospects of a viable vaccine and treatments being produced in record time.  One development includes biotech company Moderna reporting promising vaccine trials on humans.  Another one involves researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston showing a prototype vaccine that effectively protects monkeys from infection, which, according to the researchers, lays a solid foundation for an effective vaccine for humans.