The pandemic might 'feel' over by July, public health expert predicts


Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, is aiming to host a barbecue at his house in Massachusetts on Independence Day next year, he told The Atlantic's Ed Yong.
He said he is hopeful that by that point the state will have inoculated everyone who wants to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, freeing up a larger group of people to gather at his home, albeit outside. Jha doesn't think the coronavirus will be eradicated by July, but he anticipates its currently rapid spread will be reduced to a simmer. "It won't be normal, but it won't be like Fourth of July 2020," he said. "I think that's when it'll start to feel like we're no longer in a pandemic."
Lloyd Pace, the executive director of a nonprofit called the Global Health Council and a member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 task force, agrees people can "think about next summer as a marker for when we might be able to breathe again." But he warns it won't be easy. "There's almost a year's worth of work that needs to happen in those six months," he said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Success, Yong writes, hinges on executing "the most complicated vaccination program in U.S. history," continued adherence to mask-wearing and social distancing, countering misinformation, and keeping an eye on coronavirus mutations. Read more at The Atlantic.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
One great cookbook: 'The Cook You Want to Be'
The Week Recommends And the way you want to eat — now
-
'We should all ask ourselves: When we laugh, who's hurting?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
IDF blames 'error' for strike on Gaza water line
Speed Read Israeli forces attack Palestinians, including children, collecting water in central Gaza
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year high
Speed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, change
Speed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
speed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kids
Speed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths