Can Vaccines Keep Up With Rapidly Evolving Coronavirus? Variants of the original COVID-19 strain are making their way into the U.S. While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines still seem to be effective, there are concerns if the virus continues to mutate. Evan MacDonald and Julie Washington, cleveland.com | February 10, 2021 | Analysis
(TNS) The gradual rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has many expecting that the pandemic existence we’ve been living for nearly a year will soon come to an end.
But the emergence of several coronavirus mutations has cast a pall over the plan to “return to normal.” Variants from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil appear to be more contagious than the original strain of COVID-19. Ohio State University researchers have already identified a strain identical to the U.K. variant in Columbus, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has predicted the U.K. variant c
U of Wash model predicts Ohio virus deaths could spike by spring
By Evan MacDonald - cleveland.com (TNS)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio could see coronavirus deaths increase by nearly two-thirds by the spring, according to the latest projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The IHME model, which has been offering projections since early in the pandemic, says Ohio could see 15,538 coronavirus deaths by April 1. The projection assumes Ohio will scale up COVID-19 vaccine distribution over the next 90 days.
The state reported 9,462 deaths through Thursday, so the IHME is projecting a 64.2% increase in deaths over the next four months.