The widening distribution of vaccines has brought the pandemic to a new, hopeful phase, but rising COVID-19 case numbers are a sobering reminder that it isn’t over yet.
“Big picture: The worst of the pandemic is behind us,” Advocate Aurora Health Executive Medical Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention Dr. Robert Citronberg said during a recent online event. “There’s no doubt about that. But we also know that we’re not done yet.”
COVID-19 caseloads are ticking up in both Illinois and Wisconsin. In Illinois, 3,790 new confirmed cases were reported on Wednesday — the highest daily count since January — and 1,710 were in the hospital. Wisconsin reported 727 new confirmed new cases and is averaging 300 more cases per day than it was about a month ago.
“We’ve made tremendous progress. We’re almost there,” Dr. Citronberg said. “But we’re just not there yet.”
Hope rests with vaccines and the public’s ongoing commitment to good public health practices like wearing masks. Eligibility has expanded in both states, and the vaccine supply problems that slowed distributions have eased.
“Now we’re in a great place. We have three vaccines that have been approved,” Dr. Citronberg said. “Pretty soon, we’ll have more supply than demand for vaccine. And we’re a couple of months ahead of schedule.”
Dr. Citronberg made the comments during a Facebook Live event hosted by Advocate Aurora Health CEO Jim Skogsbergh on Wednesday, and you can watch the full video below.
