On the week of February 3, 2021, the country reached a stepping stone while facing the pandemic. This week, the country has more people vaccinated than infected with Covid-19. As of February 3, 2021, 26.5 million people had received the vaccine compared to the 26.3 million that the country has gone through since the beginning of covid. 

According to Web MD, “The U.S. is now administering about 1.34 million doses each day, Bloomberg reported. Nearly 8% of Americans have received one or more doses, and almost 2% are fully vaccinated.” What is most important is that the country keeps progressing and making sure we are accomplishing our goals and improving as a country. 

The importance of this vaccine is that the United States keeps up and continues producing vaccines so as many people as possible can get this and do not end up spreading the virus, since one can still spread even if he or she has gotten the vaccine. 

There are definitely still a lot of questions that people have, ranging from trusting the vaccine to how often he or she will have to get it or if the people will have to get it more than once. Although some people are skeptical of  science, it does need to be trusted. People need to trust that what they are putting in their body is to help them and will not cause issues for them down the road, which is what some people are afraid of.  

The UCSF magazine says, 

For example, if I saw Dr. Anthony Fauci take the vaccine on TV, I’d feel much more comfortable taking the vaccine myself and urging family members to comply, especially those who are vulnerable to COVID-19 complications and death due to underlying medical conditions and/or advanced age. I point to Dr. Fauci as one exemplar of a trusted public health expert, but we will need to enlist a wide range of trusted partners* to work with communities of color and those across a range of abilities, ages, legal statuses, sexualities, etc., to instill confidence in the vaccine and help keep the complex distribution process exquisitely transparent.

Dr. Fauci’s words show how people still lack trust with the vaccine but they will continue to gain trust with the amount of people getting vaccinated and telling their raw stories with it. 

This is a huge accomplishment for the United States because of the rapid increase of numbers of the corona-virus from October to December. These rising numbers were caused by students going back to school, sports beginning again, and adults going back to work because of the progress we had made over the summer. 

Now with the vaccine, there is a way to correct the problems we have made and the mass spreading that has taken place at times and there is a chance to go back to “normal.” 

Wbur says, “Then at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, we enter the “post-pandemic period” where something similar to the roaring ‘20s will likely occur, he says.” 

This will be a time where we rejoice and also a time of mourning for a lot of people because of the millions of lives that have been lost and how many people have been affected by such a devastating disease. 

Overall, the growth our country has made this year is outstanding. Despite not always dealing with the pandemic in the best ways possible, things are now beginning to look up and the future is looking bright for all of us.