United States: The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a worldwide pandemic five years ago this week.
Since then, the reported cases of the coronavirus in the United States have exceeded 103 million, while national fatalities due to COVID-19 reached over 1.2 million.
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The Trump administration initiated Operation Warp Speed in April 2020 to serve as a platform to boost both vaccine development and manufacturing speed.
United States residents can select from five modernized COVID vaccines that are available at present.
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized three vaccines through emergency measures and granted two others full approval status after extensive scientific review, as Yahoo News reported.
The COVID-19 public health emergency came to an end on May 11, 2023, as per the Department of Health and Human Services.
People lost confidence in public health services between 2023 and January 2025 so that trust levels dropped from 93% in 2023 to 85% based on Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey data.
KFF stated, “Trust in U.S. government health agencies declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, most notably following the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines,” Yahoo News reported.
Americans worry about possible future pandemic readiness because bird flu continues to expand nationwide while New Mexico and Texas suffer from the highly contagious measles virus outbreak.
What more are the experts stating?
According to Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID-19 response coordinator under the Biden administration, “We are better prepared than we were five years ago. We are not as prepared as we need to be. Preparedness is always an ongoing exercise. The US military thinks a lot about preparedness, and they’re constantly exercising, they’re constantly updating. We need to have a very similar approach to thinking about health crises.” while responding to the question of whether the US is prepared for another pandemic.