COVID-19 Pandemic Is Over, US President Joe Biden Says; How Ready Are We to Live a Normal Life?

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes that aired on Sunday, United States President Joe Biden made absolute and controversial statements. According to him, "the COVID-19 pandemic is over."

Given how certainly Biden declared the pandemic over, the media giant CNN analyzed the statement, raising the question, "how over is the pandemic?"

As they walked around the Detroit Auto Show a week ago, Biden told CBS News that the pandemic was over. He added, however, that there's still a problem with COVID-19 and a lot to work on, but doubled down that the pandemic is over.

The nation's leader also said that it's noticeable that no one's wearing masks. All people seem to be "in pretty good shape," he added. He pointed out the changes and stressed that they were perfect examples that the pandemic was over.

COVID-19 Still a Public Health Emergency

As CNN's report points out, it is a complicated viewpoint Biden is taking since the US administration is still designating COVID-19 a public health emergency and will continue doing so through, at least mid-October, when such a declaration is up for plausible renewal.

Indeed, the president is right that a lot of work is needed. His government seeks additional money from Congress to help with the development of vaccines, among other things, and the declaration of Biden could chip away "at a remaining urgency" among lawmakers.

Clearly, there's a lag among Americans getting vaccinated with booster shots. Most of the country has been vaccinated, although less than half of the eligible individuals have been inoculated with a first booster, according to the Center for Diseases Control and Prevention.

Polls suggested that some parents with children younger than 5 years old, who are now eligible for the vaccine, are doubtful of getting their kids vaccinated.

Efficacy of COVID-19 Vaccine

Forty-three percent of these parents said they would definitely not get their child vaccinated, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey in July showed.

On top of the booster shots, vaccines may not totally stop infection. However, they are still the best approach to avoid severe COVID-19 effects, like hospitalization or death.

There are tens of thousands of reported COVID-19 cases per month and hundreds of deaths every day. These are figures that the CDC is expecting to hold steady instead of spike or fall.

Earlier on, US officials have teased with their declaration of the pandemic being over. Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the outgoing director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the country was "out of the pandemic phase."

Fauci, along with other experts, has long said the US would have to live with the virus. That seems to be taking place now, as the intervening months have seen several developments.

Immunity from the Virus

Immunity weakens over time, although almost every American now has some level of immunity, either through past vaccination or infection.

Almost all people 6 months and older have access to vaccination. A new Omicron variant-specific booster shot has been authorized to hopefully help prevent transmission of the virus and hospitalizations.

The CDC ended recommendations for social distancing and quarantine to control COVID-19 and eased mitigation recommendations for schools.

Whether the pandemic is officially over or not, Americans have continued to go back to a more normal life. Most Americans, about 57 percent, said in an Axios-Ipsos survey released in September that they were at least somewhat worried about the COVID-19 virus.

Nonetheless, a minority, 28 percent, reported they social distanced in the past week. A relatively larger minority, 37 percent, said they had worn a face covering more than occasionally.

A report about President Biden's statement is shown on WIRED's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on COVID-19 in Science Times.