The large coronavirus outbreak in the United States, now totaling more than 5 million cases and over 160,000 deaths, appears to be plateauing as the average number of new infections has dropped in recent weeks. Yet, the decline may from shortages and other testing issues in states with large outbreaks like California and Texas rather than a decrease in cases.
According to data analyzed by CNBC, the U.S. has recorded an average of about 53,000 daily cases over the past seven days, down 19% from the roughly 65,000 daily average as of July 28. At the same time, testing numbers has fallen alongside new case numbers by about 100,000 tests per day.
"I really have come to believe we have entered a real, new, emerging criss with testing and it is making it hard to know where the pandemic is slowing down and where it's not," said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, in an interview with CNBC.
Russian Vaccine Update
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stated this week that he has offered to be a participate in Russia's late-stage trial of its approved coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V. The controversial vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow, has now begun Phase III or late-stage clinical trials to prove that the drug is both safe and effective in multiple countries including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines this week. Russia also has not provided early-stage data on the vaccine.
Nevertheless, Duterte has welcomed Russia's offer to provide or co-manufacture free doses of the vaccine in the Philippines.
"I will tell President Putin that I have huge trust in your studies in combating COVID and I believe that the vaccine that you have produces is really good for humanity," Duterte stated, quoted by Reuters. "I can be the first they can experiment on."
While trials of the vaccine started, a major concern amongst health experts and other analysts is that any mistakes that arise from Russia's vaccine will negatively affect worldwide adoption of another tested and approved vaccine.
"I hope that the Russians have actually, definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective," Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. top infectious disease expert, stated during a panel discussion on Wednesday. "I seriously doubt that they've done that."
In a National Geographic panel discussion, moderated by ABC News, Fauci criticized Russia's early approval of a coronavirus vaccine before completing the standard Phase 3 trials. Fauci stated that there are many coronavirus vaccines currently in the development and testing stages, a process that can last for months.
"If we wanted to take the chance of hurting a lot of people or giving them something that doesn't work, we could start doing this, you know, next week if we wanted to. But that't not the way it works," Fauci added.
Aside from Russia's early adoption of its vaccine, a Gallup poll conducted between July 20-August 2 by the organization's COVID-19 tracking survey found that Americans are already uneasy towards a coronavirus vaccine, even if one approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was provided to them at no cost. The poll found that 35% Americans would refuse an approved vaccine, with U.S. political party preferences playing a large role in individual views on COVID-19.
Gallup noted that policymakers in government, healthcare industry, and education need to anticipate that a large portion of the U.S. population will refuse a proven safe and effective vaccine, even if provided for free.