As we approach a new presidency, a new Congress and new leaders in our health agencies, I am concerned that the sense of urgency about COVID-19 appears to have faded. The disease has not been discussed during the election season, even though it is an ongoing and developing public health threat.
I believe this is a dangerous mindset. The reality is that COVID-19 remains a unique and deadly threat for many people — it is not just another respiratory virus, and should not be treated as such by our leaders.
I am the CEO and co-founder of biopharmaceutical InflaRx. But I am also an intensive care physician and researcher active in the immunology field. I have worked in the ICU. The reality is clear: We may be done with COVID-19, but COVID-19 is not done with us.
The virus continues to cause fatalities, even outside of the traditional respiratory season. During the summer of 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that COVID-19 killed thousands, with about 4,200 reported deaths in August alone. As of October, some 40,000 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19 in 2024.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in May 2024 found that in the fall and winter of 2023-2024, the risk of death in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was greater than the risk of death in patients hospitalized for seasonal influenza. On Sept. 28, 2024, the CDC reported that COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to outpace flu and RSV hospitalizations combined.
Despite these facts, the CDC website now groups COVID-19 with flu and RSV, stating that “while COVID-19 still poses a significant threat to people at higher risk, its health impact isnow similar to other respiratory viruses, like flu, which are also important causes of illness and death, especially for people at higher risk.” I believe this positioning is dangerously complacent and sends the wrong message to those responsible for guiding us through public health challenges.
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