Politico-scientific dimension of COVID-19 in the United States

 Good evening to my readers and I am happy to be back again for this post. It has been quite a hectic past few months for all including myself as we adjust to our new normal. I have been working from home since March 2020 and I don't see the end of this new normal insight. 

Today my reflection is on the outcome of the just ended US election and its potential impact on public health practices in this country with particular emphasis on COVID-19.  At the start of the summer, there were multiple predictions and models on the potential second wave of COVID-19.  On daily basis, I watched multiple news conferences from "experts" with their predictions and models claiming accuracy in their predictive models. Of particular interest is the White House daily briefing on the COVID-19  Task Force response by the Trump Administration. We heard the President discussing and leading the conferences with different messages and degrees of accuracy regarding what is working and what is not working. In some cases, there were references to scientific facts and in other cases, he debunks scientific data. But, in all these times, one great scientist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Health (NIH), who was referred to as the nation's top infectious disease expert, consistently reference scientific facts and data to his claims and predictions. He became a celebrity among democrats and the left and a "jerk" among conservatives and the right. In some instances, others have called for him to be fired. And, the latter was supposed to be the case after the election, according to sources close to the President. But, one thing that surprises me and other public health practitioners is the withdrawal of funding and the US from WHO. Why should this happen at the time of a global pandemic when solidarity and corporation are the order of the day?

But then, when the democratic Presidential Candidate - Joe Biden - decided to use the Trump Administration's abysmal response to the COVID-19 as a political campaign strategy, all break loose! President Trump suspended his daily briefing and move from a conservative radio station to another fighting back and claiming successes in his response to the public health crisis, when in fact the data is showing differently. As if that was not enough, the campaign team continues to organize political campaigns admitting people with no basic prevention guidance by both the CDC and the Task Force - masks and social distancing. At one time, the President became sick of COVID-19 and was hospitalized and received experimental cocktails. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs he's recovered quickly and back to his new normal of campaigning and disregard for science.

Well, on November 3, 2020, Americans went to the poll to exercise their franchise to choose the next president of the nation. After about 2.5 days of counting ballots, including mail-in ballots, the results was overwhelming to a new president - President-Elect Joe Biden. Biden has campaigned on taking the virus seriously and would work from day 1 to institute rapid response to the pandemic. This message resonated well with Americans and they eventually accepted that message at the ballot. But, as I write this piece on November 22, 2020, President Trump has yet to conceive defeat or recognize the incoming President-Elect. But, as the political stalemate continuous, the country is grappling with an increasing number of cases and death. As of today, global confirmed cases are 58,533,531 of which the US cases stood at 12,219,209. At the same time, the global COVID-19 related death was 1,386,204, and the US at 256,723 accounting for 20% of global numbers. 

But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The recent application by Pfizer for emergency use authorization (EUA) for their new vaccine is estimated to have 95% efficacy. Also, other potential vaccines are coming out with similar efficacy before the end of the year. Hopefully, regardless of the US Administration responsible for the roll-out and access to the vaccines, 2021 may provide a glimmer of hope in public health practices towards the control of the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to the coming year, where I and my colleagues in public health can scientifically lead prevention, detection, and control responses to the emerging pandemic in general and COVID-19 in particular. 

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