Lack of Vaccinations Allowing COVID-19 Variants to Propagate

Chelan-Douglas Health District Administrator Luke Davies provided a global picture of the fight against COVID-19 last week.

Davies said only about 316 million vaccine doses have been deployed to date globally, which means billions of people around the planet don't have access to potentially life-saving vaccine. The lack of vaccinations globally is allowing COVID-19 variants to propagate, potentially prolonging the pandemic.

So far the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have shown the ability to reduce the transmission of all known variants.

Davies said humanity is moving into a 'new normal', although it could be a couple years before we understand what that new normal is.

"If you've had a chance to read some of the stories coming out about Europe and how the Black Plague changed Europe in the Middle Ages, and how Spanish Influenza kind of changed the world in 1917, this is that level of event," explained Davies.

Davies is hopeful that if people keep wearing masks and getting vaccinated they will have something similar to what they had before. He added that it's possible the region could be looking at doing large vaccination campaigns again in the winter or fall.