Summer 2022: A Truly As the temperature starts to rise and people begin to prepare for summer, many are trying to make up for the last two years of frustrating warmer months spent inside. Throughout the nation, both cases and mortality rates have been steadily decreasing. Rates of those who are vaccinated are increasing, especially with the vaccines being recently approved for younger children. One by one, mandates are being lifted, giving us access to a more “normal” way of living. As people grow tired and less weary of the virus, we may be looking at a summer closest to what we had pre-pandemic. According to the COVID Data Tracker Weekly Report of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of April 6th, 2022, around 77.1% of the US population has received a single dose of the COVID vaccine, while 65.7% of those are fully vaccinated against the virus. 22.8 million of children ages 5 to 17 are considered to be fully vaccinated, while 23.7% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 are vaccinated with the booster dose. All of these statistics contribute to the great outlook for this summer, as combined with the lowering of rates of those being hospitalized due to the virus and those testing positive for it as well.
The medical aspect of the virus is not the only thing giving people hope for a more normal summer. Nationwide, we are also seeing a trend of mandates being lifted. Just looking at Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker announced at the end of February 2022 that the statewide mask mandate was lifted, even indoors, and it is now up to personal choice and comfortability. Though masks are still heavily recommended by epidemiologists, this was a big step that gave people a sense of normalcy. More and more people are now choosing to go maskless, both indoors and outdoors, and this may be an ongoing trend because of the hotter weather. According to Adesuwa Imafidon, a sophomore here at the University of St. Francis (USF), is also noticing the decrease of usage of masks. She says, “There is definitely an increased comfortability and people are now going maskless, as well as attending social gatherings like pre-pandemic days. It is an interesting observation, especially after all the heightened health precautions that were in place for so long.”
With us entering the third year of the pandemic, people are also growing tired of revolving plans around the virus. With the vaccine being developed, mandates/restrictions being According to www.northeastern.edu, we are also nearing the end of the Omicron surge, which peaked around mid-January. lifted and businesses opening and running in high gear, some
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April 29, 2022
