It’s definitely annoying to talk about by now, but the world is coming to the reality that COVID might never go away.
In countries such as Iran, Russia, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and South Africa, COVID-19 cases are climbing faster than ever. Some countries are even reporting a higher volume of cases than they did as the pandemic took the world by storm last March.
And in countries such as China and the United States, a resurgence in cases is threatening the recovery and progress made over the last year and a half. That’s why medical leaders, vaccine makers, and politicians are all starting to echo calls for booster COVID vaccines.
Moderna President Stephen Hoge insinuated that boosters would be an inevitability; Anthony Fauci said that the U.S. should prepare for boosters, just days after the FDA authorized third doses to be administered for immunocompromised people. With that, it looks increasingly likely that vaccine boosters will be available to the public this Fall.
It’s unlikely the economy will shut down again, but COVID’s staying power stands to threaten dozens of industries and sectors. It’s widely expected that the Winter will bring an even greater resurgence of the virus, underscoring the urgency with which world leaders are trying to avoid another COVID crisis.
However, with just over half of the U.S. fully vaccinated, booster shots might be a hard sell for many Americans.