COVID-19 death forecasts decline

COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are forecasted to decrease in the upcoming weeks even as some predict a rise in cases associated with more contagious variants.

Data from the University of Massachusetts’ Reich Lab Covid-19 Forecast Hub shows that fatalities might go down to levels that haven’t been seen since the surge of coronavirus cases in November, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The forecast predicts that the week of March 28 to April 3 there will be approximated 7,166 deaths from the virus, the lowest number seen in months, as the U.S. vaccination efforts continue to build.

Although cases could slightly increase in the next couple of weeks, totals are still down compared to last year, Bloomberg reported.

The week of March 21 to March 27, cases are predicted to go from 305,450 to 319,703. 

More than 90 million vaccine shots have been given in the country so far, with many of them going to the elderly, who are most likely to die from the coronavirus. 

However, there are concerns that Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, the first two of three approved for use in the U.S., will not be able to defend against new variants as well.

A new study shows that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are less effective against the South African variant of the virus.

The U.S. could vaccinate 75 percent of the population in six months if more than 2 million of the shots keep being administered every day, according to Bloomberg.

America has seen more than 29 million cases and more than 525,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus data tracker.