Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the first fruit of the Trump Administration’s Operation Warp Speed crash program, could have been deployed by now in the United States, but for a nasty, anti-Trump intervention weeks ago delaying its appearance by at least three weeks.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S., which had dropped to 28,608 on Sept. 20, have now climbed up to 39,230 on Oct. 20 — reflecting the level of about two months ago. The U.S.’s previous peak three months ago had reached around 59,700, so the overall system presently is handling the caseload. However, a couple of states are beginning to show stress; and the present rise poses a significant threat. There is the added factor that flu season picks up in the U.S. normally in the second and third weeks of November.
