Americans have hard choice to make in current COVID-19 scenario: report

NEW YORK, April 18 (Xinhua) -- As COVID-19 case numbers begin to climb again and more infections go unreported, the onus has fallen on individual Americans to decide how much risk they and their neighbors face from the coronavirus -- and what, if anything, to do about it, reported The New York Times on Sunday.

"For many people, the threats posed by COVID have eased dramatically over the two years of the pandemic. Vaccines slash the risk of being hospitalized or dying. Powerful new antiviral pills can help keep vulnerable people from deteriorating," said the report.

However, not all Americans can count on the same protection. Millions of people with weakened immune systems do not benefit fully from vaccines. Two-thirds of Americans, and more than a third of those 65 and older, have not received the critical security of a booster shot, with the most worrisome rates among Black and Hispanic people.

"And patients who are poorer or live farther from doctors and pharmacies face steep barriers to getting antiviral pills," noted the report.

Meanwhile, the newspaper emphatically cautioned that mask mandates have fallen; some free testing sites have closed; and "whatever parts of the United States were still trying to collectively quell the pandemic have largely turned their focus away from community-wide advice."