500,000 & Counting: As Covid-19 Deaths Rise, The Need for Vaccinations is at an All-time High

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STEM students remain vigilant in wearing their masks.

The 2019 SARS-CoV-2 virus, commonly referred to as Covid-19, has continued to spread and ravage communities across the globe. As the death count in America reached five-hundred thousand people this Monday (Feb, 22nd), medical officials, scientists, and lab technicians have been working tirelessly to administer millions of vaccine doses daily.

While nearly 38 million people have been fully-vaccinated with either the Modera or Pfizer vaccine, according to scientists, it will be many weeks before vaccinations make a noticeable change in the pandemic and case positivity rate. This statistic brings up an important issue; How has the pandemic affected American youth? It is safe to say that being forced to grow within multiple historical events has not been a simple challenge.

According to the report by the International Labor Organization, “38% of young people are uncertain of their future career prospects, with the crisis expected to create more obstacles in the labor market and to lengthen the transition from school to work.” Even more pressing, now the virus is mutating faster than officials expected, evolving into variants that may negatively affect the immune system. The newest Covid variant was discovered in New York City, and another version is spreading at a rapid pace through California. Scientists feel that a variant first discovered in Britain will become the dominant form of the virus in the United States by the end of March.

The road towards the end of the Covid-19 pandemic may be currently unknown, but one thing for certain can be said, the only way to ending it will be listening to science, caring for others, wearing a mask, and working together.