Rustia, Ainsleyrayanah E.

1st year BSN-B

1. In the U.S, the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 caused widespread lockdowns and
disruptions in daily life while triggering a short but severe economic recession that
resulted in widespread unemployment. Three years later, Americans have largely returned
to normal activities. Their response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been defined by the
division of power between the US State Government and the Federal Government. From
January 3, 2020 to February 28, 2023, there have been 103,389,000 confirmed cases,
1,119,000 confirmed deaths, and 1,567 new cases as of March 5, 2023. The number of
people diagnosed with COVID 19 shots each day peaked in January of 2021 and then
decreased over the next several months as several vaccines became publicly available.

On Sunday, the 5th of March, a discussion took place in the US Congress, and that
followed the announcements made in the previous weeks that Covid-19 most likely
originated in a Chinese laboratory. That’s the theory agreed upon by the US Department
of Energy and the FBI. Some other US government authorities indicate that the virus
began to spread after it crossed the animal-human border in a natural way. The virus has
claimed more than million lives in the US, and the number is close to seven million
worldwide. White house spokesman John Kirby said at the end of February that the US
Government has not yet come to a common denominator about the start of the pandemic
and the origin of the virus. Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told fox TV that
“It was a Chinese virus that came from a lab.” Pompeo also suggested that US support for
international research may have been linked to the development of the virus.
2. About 68.2% of people in the US are fully vaccinated. About 80% of people have
received at least one COVID-19 shot. About 33.5% of people have received a booster or
additional dose. COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed across the U.S. and its
territories. Four vaccines- one made by Pfizer-BioNTech, one from Moderna, one from
Johnson & Johnson and another from Novavax- have been approved or authorized for
emergency use and are part of the widespread distribution process.

Anyone aged 6 months or older is eligible to receive a vaccine, and more than 90% of US
adults have received at least one dose. Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are authorized for
children 6 months of age and older, and the Novavax and Moderna vaccines are
authorized for children age 12 and older. Anyone age 12 or older who received their last
COVID-19 shot at least two months ago is eligible to receive a booster shot. The newest
boosters, made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, include protection against more recent
COVID variants. People aged 12 or older (18 or older for the Moderna version of the
booster) can get the new boost even if they’ve gotten a booster shot in the past, as long as
it’s been two months since.
In April 2021, around the time most states expanded vaccine eligibility to include all
adults, more than two million people were receiving their first vaccine each day. More
than 70 percent of people in the U.S aged 5 or older are now fully vaccinated.

The federal government has taken steps to make receiving a COVID-19 vaccine more
convenient and accessible, including expanding walk-in hours for vaccines at pharmacies,
shipping new allocations of vaccine to rural health clinics, and distributing more vaccines
to family doctors.

States prioritized at-risk populations to be vaccinated first, including medical staff, people
in nursing homes or other long term care facilities, essential workers, the elderly and
people with medical conditions that put them at greater risk of becoming seriously ill
with COVID-19.

The Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax vaccines require two doses, and the
Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one for the recipient to be fully vaccinated. For
the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Novavax vaccines, a second shot should be
administered about three or four weeks after the first, depending on which of the vaccines
was given.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is authorized for everyone 6 months or older, and has
received full FDA approval for use in people aged 12 and older. The Moderna and
Novavax vaccines are authorized for people 12 and older, and the Moderna vaccine has
received full FDA approval for use in adults. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now
authorized only for adults for whom other COVID-19 vaccines are not accessible or
clinically appropriate, or who would not otherwise receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Everyone 12 or older is eligible for a booster shot two months after their last COVID-19
shot. Immunocompromised people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or
Johnson & Johnson vaccines are also eligible for an extra shot four weeks after the last
dose in their initial vaccination series. This shot is not considered a booster, but rather
part of the normal vaccination course for this group, which includes people who are
receiving cancer treatment and people who have received an organ transplant, among
others.