The COVID-19 pandemic in United States: prevention and recovery

During the international forum “the Lessons of Pandemic: Experience of Kazakhstan” (QazBioPharm), speakers and participants shared Kazakhstan’s experience in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, mechanisms and strategies for the prevention and prediction of biological threats, and the development of new drugs and tools against COVID-19 to ensure biological safety. discussing their opinions about advanced technologies. On the occasion of the program, Shukhrat Mitalipov, director of the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy of the Oregon Health and Science University, gave a speech on the topic “The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States: prevention and recovery”, Turanews.kz reports.

The purpose of the report is to demonstrate the actions of the United States during the pandemic and the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccination program for the country. The report begins with a discussion of the origin and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As of March 2023, 760 million people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19, and 7 million have died. In the USA, 100 million people have been infected with COVID-19, and 1.1 million people have died.

Focusing on the characteristics of the virus, the speaker described that it is asymptomatic and transmitted through airborne droplets. Additionally, a scheme showcasing various types of the virus is proposed under the name “SARS-CoV-2’s family tree”. During the report, it is emphasized that the development of the vaccine took 12 months. This was significantly faster compared to previous efforts in combating infectious diseases. For example, it took 105 years to develop a vaccine against typhoid, and scientists spent 10 years developing the measles vaccine.

The report also highlights that the use of COVID-19 vaccines is an important measure that has prevented millions of deaths. Shukhrat Mitalipov, director of the Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy at the Oregon Health and Science University, concluded the report by stating, “Without vaccination, the infection rate would be 1.5 times higher, hospitalization rate 3.8 times higher, and the mortality rate 4.1 times higher.”

Recall that on May 29, 2023, the International Forum (QazBioPharm) entitled “the Lessons of Pandemic: Experience of Kazakhstan” kicked off in the capital. Its purpose is to preserve the institutional memory of measures to comprehensively overcome pandemic threats, as an example of the COVID-19 coronavirus infection, to stimulate the effective activity of state and other bodies and scientific organizations in ensuring biological safety during the pandemic.