Life during the COVID-19 pandemic, for most people alive today, is just plain weird. Virtually none of us have experienced a global pandemic that disrupted the world quite as much as COVID-19 has, or claimed as many lives within the course of just a year and a half.
That's why, for comparison's sake, it's helpful to look back at history—particularly, to the last time the world dealt with a global pandemic involving a respiratory virus: the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic. For people who like to argue that COVID-19 isn't that big of a deal compared to past pandemics, that comparison should be sobering: as of this week, the current pandemic and the Spanish flu have killed about the same number of Americans: around 675,000.
It can also be useful to look for ways that the Spanish flu and COVID-19 are different. At the time of the 1918-19 outbreak, the U.S. population was about a third of its current size—which likely made all those deaths weigh even more heavily on the people of the time. Moreover, 100 years of scientific advances mean today's public health officials, researchers and so on have knowledge and tools that those of the 1910s could only dream of having. Yet, in part because resistance to vaccines remains high and in part because our world is more interconnected than ever, COVID-19 has still managed to kill as many people in the U.S. as the Spanish flu did a century ago.
Looking back at the Spanish flu can also help us predict how today's pandemic might end: As more and more people were infected with the virus, the population gradually gained natural immunity, and it eventually became a mild seasonal bug. However, that development came with a tremendous cost in the form of people sickened and lives lost. Today's pandemic could end much sooner—and without more needless deaths—if the unvaccinated among us headed down to their local pharmacy and got their shot. The sooner more people do so, the sooner we can banish the COVID-19 pandemic to the history books.
About 466.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of yesterday afternoon, of which more than 386.2 million doses have been administered thus far, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 54.7% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
Nearly 229.1 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 9 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 4.7 million people have died. On September 20, there were 540,395 new cases and 8,154 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 4.5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded nearly 42.3 million coronavirus cases as of 9 a.m. E.T. today. More than 676,000 people have died. On September 20, there were 201,648 new cases and 2,302 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Sept. 21, 9 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Janssen/Johnson & Johnson booster shots significantly increase the vaccine's effectiveness, J&J said today. A second shot delivered two months after the first dose increased recipients' antibody levels four to six times above those produced after the initial shot, while a booster shot given at six months increased levels twelvefold. The company has provided the data to U.S. regulators, but added that even without a booster, its single-dose shot has remained about 79% effective in the real world, including against the Delta variant.
A 20-year-old gas station worker in Germany was shot and killed Saturday by a customer who refused his request to wear a face mask, the New York Times reports, citing local prosecutors. Germany has mandated masks in stores since early in the pandemic; the attack is thought to be the country's first murder motivated by the rule. The suspect is now in police custody amid an investigation.
The rush to use ivermectin as a medically unproven treatment for COVID-19 has created headaches for U.S. horse owners who need it as a dewormer, the Washington Post reports. Stores are running short on the drug, while shoppers who plan to use it for livestock worry about being mistaken for people who intend to use it themselves. Some retailers have moved ivermectin behind counters or cases, while at least one store is now requiring customers to show a photo of themselves with their horse before being allowed to purchase the drug.
George Holliday, the Los Angeles plumber whose footage of white police beating Rodney King sparked protests in the city in 1991, died Sunday of complications from COVID-19, NPR reports. Holliday, who recorded a grainy video of the attack on a Sony camcorder, helped mainstream the practice of everyday citizens recording episodes of police brutality. Holliday, 61, was unvaccinated and had been placed on a ventilator after contracting pneumonia.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Tara Law and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
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