With Millions of Americans Vaccinated, Experts Urge Caution Saying 4th Surge Is ‘Preventable’

This time last year Reggie McDonald could not be sure what the future held. He lay in a hospital bed in Walter Reed Medical Center, fighting for every breathe because of his coronavirus diagnosis. By March 31, his fever had finally broken; he and his family were encouraged.

In a recent telephone interview, McDonald recalled telling himself, ‘You have a lot of family and friends who are pulling for you.’ He pressed on when he was denied food intravenously because an I-V tube coupled with oxygen would possibly have created fluid in his lungs. And, on April 2, 2020, he was released from the hospital, having survived a global pandemic.

Those memories haunted McDonald, a logistics manager for Homeland Security, during the months the coronavirus ravaged America and other countries around the world, claiming more than 560,000 Americans alone.

“First of all, I gotta say just how blessed I feel. That is the first thing,” McDonald said. “The next thing is my heart just goes out to all of those families that lost so many loved ones over this disease. It’s just been so tough on families.”

McDonald is a volunteer in a COVID study, wanting his experience to yield information that will help with long-term treatments and understanding of the disease.

He explained, “I just felt I had a responsibility because I’m thinking that I have antibodies, but of course, I don’t know how long they last. I found out later that I was the first person at Walter Reed Hospital to do this study on COVID. They do not tell me the results … but, now it is an annual visit. I go back next month.”

In the meantime, he has taken his first shot of the Pfizer vaccine, and it was not particularly easy on him. He had fever, chills, and even a visit to the emergency room. But, within 24 hours, he was back to normal.

Leading Cause of Death in 2020

The Centers for Disease Control and the Journal of American Medicine reported today that COVID-19 was the third-leading cause of death in America in 2020. According to JAMA, the data from the pandemic illustrates trends and “shifting patterns” in mortality. According to JAMA, “most of the increase in deaths from 2019 to 2020 was directly attributed to COVID-19. However, increases were also noted for several other leading causes of death. These increases may indicate, to some extent, underreporting of COVID-19.”

As has been reported throughout the pandemic, African Americans and other people of color were disproportionately affected by the disease. A study in January determined that the pandemic significantly reduced American life expectancy by 1.13 years to 77.48 years. It is the largest single-year decline in life expectancy in at least 40 years and is the lowest life expectancy estimated since 2003.

The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offered an even starker outlook for Black Americans and Latinos, predicting a life expectancy decline of 2.10 for African Americans and 3.05 for Latinos.

 Speaking from Experience

For now, Nadine Walton is just grateful to be alive. She and several members of her family contracted the virus during a Thanksgiving dinner.

“I was sick,” she said, “and could hardly breathe. I called the ambulance. I said I need some oxygen. They did not put any on me until I got to the hospital. I was so weak.”

But, three days later, the 70-year-old grandmother was back home from the hospital. She has already had her first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

“I haven’t been back to work,” she stated. “They wanted me to come back, but I told them I want to get both shots.”

As millions of Americans are vaccinated and guidelines for mask wearing, social-distancing, and crowd sizes are being relaxed, health experts are urging Americans to be careful in their rush to return to pre-pandemic life. President Joe Biden is also calling for state officials to remain vigilant and not rescind mask mandates prematurely.

“Please, this is not politics,” Biden said. “Reinstate the mandate if you let it down, and businesses should require masks as well.”

It is the type of advice McDonald and Walton, both of whom were hospitalized with COVID-19, can back up based on their experience.

“I’m blessed. I don’t believe in luck, honey,” Walton said. “I am so thankful. I was in bad enough shape, but there were people in worst shape.”

And for McDonald, he has focused on the notion that “we are seemingly moving in the right direction.”