Infectious disease expert explains why the next wave of COVID-19 in the US is inevitable

Infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm warned Monday of the inevitability of a new wave of the coronavirus that is engulfing the United States.

“While vaccination is important, it is clearly a critical part of our long-term plan, we will not have enough vaccine over the next period, as we go, in the arms of enough Americans. six to ten weeks, with this wave, we’re going to stop it, ”Osterholm, the director of the Center for Research and Policy for Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota, told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

“It’s just not going to happen,” he added.

Osterholm had previously noted that in some states, even where vaccination uptake is high, the number of new infections every day is now on the rise.

While GOP-led states are lifting restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, new infections have now squashed at about 65,000 nationwide. It’s a detail that has troubled public health experts. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and top medical adviser to President Joe Biden, warned last week that “now is just not the time to back down and declare premature victory.”

Osterholm warned Sunday that the upcoming wave is more likely to affect children, due to the prevalence of the more contagious B117 variant.

“Unlike the previous strains of the virus, we didn’t see children under eighth grade getting infected often, or that they weren’t very sick often,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Children play a huge role in the transmission of this,” Osterholm added on Fox News.

Watch the interview here: