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If they asked you what is the news you are most looking forward to right now, one of your answers would surely have to do with COVID-19, right? The long-awaited global recovery could still take time. However, the figures at least in the United States are beginning to be encouraging.

The new cases registered in the United States have decreased for the fifth consecutive week. The same has happened with the number of hospitalizations and deaths. Specialists attribute this "good news" to the immunization process in the population over 65 years of age, which has been taking place since last December.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 16 million people have received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine since late December. Of these, more than 10% are residents or staff of nursing homes. On the other hand, 4 million Americans are waiting for their second dose.

According to "The Covid Tracking Project", cases plummeted in almost the entire country, 6 weeks after vaccination plans began. In hindsight, this makes sense because the figures for January and the first weeks of February, both for deaths and hospitalizations, would have to do with infections that occurred in December. This is how each week that passes there is a decline in the number of cases, so the authorities continue to insist on the benefits of applying the vaccine.

Meanwhile, the investigations do not stop and there are new reports such as the study in Israel in which it was shown that the Pfizer vaccine was 85 percent effective after the first dose, a finding that could lead some countries to delay the second injection, to extend the vaccination to a greater number of people.

Something similar happens with AstraZeneca. Tests have shown that its protection is most effective when people received the second dose after three months, instead of six weeks. In fact, already in England a strategy is being considered of giving a single injection to more people and waiting 90 days for the “booster”. However, in the United States there is no plan to change the initial scheme, that is, until the population at greatest risk receives their second dose, the next phase will not begin.

As for collateral effects, there is also new data. The CDC assures that in the case of vaccines that are currently applied in the United States, side effects have been rare. The statistic is less than 0.1%.

It speaks of:

• Headaches

• fatigue

• muscle pains

Given all this amount of information, there is still skepticism and even fear of the adverse effects that immunization could have. There are people who would reject it. In fact, a New York Times article revealed that nearly half of Americans prefer not to get vaccinated. A trend that health authorities try to reverse, insisting on the safety of the doses they are using. Even the Vatican is promoting vaccines, but without "punishment" for those who do not want it.

In Florida, Jackson Memorial Hospital began to analyze whether it is time to include those over 55 without pre-existing conditions in the process. They have already begun to collect data even though they would have to wait for authorization from the authorities. To date, 4.5 million vaccines have been supplied in the entity, of which 3.6 million have already been administered.

As a curious fact, which contrasts with the reluctance of a significant number of people; a health administrator in Florida said two women "dressed up as grandmothers" in an attempt to get vaccinated. They have also multiplied the attempt of scams when trying to "sell a quota" for vaccination. Remember that the vaccine is free and that to have access you must register through any of the authorized centers.

The truth is that, although the United States is approaching a dismal 500,000 deaths from COVID-19, there appears to be light at the end of this long tunnel. There is still a long way to go and everything seems to indicate that, to combat this invisible enemy, we must also fight against rumor, defamation and skepticism. In particular, I have always bet on science and preventive medicine. For me, the evaluated and authorized vaccines represent the best card we have to protect ourselves against the Coronavirus. And your friend reader, what would you decide?