An informed guide to the pandemic, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment. |
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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the United States, seven-day average.The New York Times |
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 | | President Biden during an address to Congress in April.Doug Mills/The New York Times |
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Biden's state of the virus |
Biden is expected to use the speech to rally the nation behind his domestic agenda and to address immediate priorities, like his Supreme Court nomination and the geopolitical confrontation with Russia. But when talking about the coronavirus, he will be walking a delicate line. |
"He can't proclaim the pandemic over because we don't know that," said my colleague Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington correspondent who covers health policy. At the same time, the president is heading into a year of midterm elections, and some Americans are tired of hearing about the coronavirus. Biden may need to turn his attention to other matters, like the high price of gasoline, supply chain issues and war in Ukraine. |
"So he wants to get the nation to a place where Americans view the coronavirus as a manageable problem, not something that's going to be eliminated but something that we're all going to learn how to live with," Sheryl said. |
The White House has been working on a detailed strategy to transition the nation to what some are calling a "new normal," to be unveiled Wednesday. Biden will not lay out details of the plan in his speech tonight, Sheryl added. |
Instead, he's likely to talk in broad strokes. He may also talk about how his administration is laying the groundwork for local communities to monitor the virus on their own and make their own decisions on reimposing emergency measures. |
"There's not going to be any mission-accomplished banner," Sheryl said. "He's not going to declare independence from the virus. He tried that once last July 4. It did not work out well for him." (The Delta wave arrived soon after.) |
"I also think his remarks have to acknowledge where Americans already are," Sheryl said. Many Americans are ready to put the pandemic behind them. "Biden's C.D.C. just issued guidelines that suggest 70 percent of Americans can pretty much do that by taking off their masks and no longer having to rely on Covid restrictions like social distancing." |
At the same time, large segments of the American population remain at risk. Children under 5 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, and new data released yesterday showed that Pfizer's vaccine was much less effective in preventing infection in children ages 5 to 11 than in adolescents or adults. And an estimated seven million Americans have weak immune systems, illnesses or disabilities that make them vulnerable to severe Covid. |
"The task before Biden is to acknowledge the current climate, keep in the back of his mind that he wants Democrats to be re-elected — and Democrats don't want to be seen as the party of 'no,' or the party of Covid restrictions," Sheryl said. "While at the same time, it's his job to keep the country safe and make sure we're prepared. And to know that another variant could be just around the corner." |
 | | Masking, or not, in Manhattan yesterday.Brendan McDermid/Reuters |
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How are Americans feeling? |
In December, when Omicron emerged and rapidly became the dominant variant globally, 36 percent of the nearly 1,300 adults surveyed said they were "extremely or very worried" that they or a family member would test positive for the virus. |
In mid-February, 24 percent of respondents expressed this fear. Case numbers are now slightly lower than in late October, before Omicron took hold. About 50,000 people with Covid are hospitalized in the U.S., less than a third of the January peak. |
The poll also found that support for mask mandates was fading. In August, 55 percent of respondents said they approved of required masking, compared with roughly 50 percent who support it now. |
Another new survey, by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, found that while Americans are eager to move past the pandemic, there is also trepidation. |
Overall, about half of Americans expect it will be safe for most people to "resume normal prepandemic activities" by late spring, including a third who say it is already safe to do so, the survey found. But a majority of Americans, 61 percent, also worry that lifting restrictions would put immunocompromised people at risk. |
What else we're following |
My household did all the right things — we vaccinated, boosted, masked and tested. We still mask and test. And now to thank us, Mayor Eric Adams wants to lift the vaccine mandate? A large majority of the city is vaccinated, and we were starting to get back to normal, to feel safe. But now by opening indoor spaces to unvaccinated people (i.e. Covid variant incubators), we aren't safe anymore. And the immunocompromised and children under 5 are going to be in even more danger. Doesn't he realize the vaccinated are the majority and making us feel unsafe will only hurt business?" — Jennifer, Brooklyn |
Let us know how you're dealing with the pandemic. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
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