CDC Director Says This Fall Could Be ‘the Worst’ We’ve Ever Had Thanks to COVID-19

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This fall, the COVID-19 pandemic could become even more severe in the U.S., the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new interview. That, in addition to the the looming threat of flu season, could make the coming months incredibly difficult.

According to a new analysis of CDC data from the New York Times, the pandemic has already caused more than 200,000 deaths. And by the end of the year, COVID-19 will “clearly” be one of the leading causes of death for the year, CDC director and virologist Robert Redfield, M.D., said in an interview with WebMD. And, if we don’t stick with our masks, hand washing, and social distancing, the fall with COVID-19 could be quite dire.

“It’s dependent upon how the American people choose to respond,” Dr. Redfield said. ”If the American public will really take to heart” the public health measures we’ve been asked to adopt—wearing a mask, social distancing, hand hygiene, and avoiding crowds—we could significantly reduce the toll of the pandemic. “But if we don’t do that,” he said, “this could be the worst fall from a public health perspective we’ve ever had.”

Part of the issue is that we won’t just have the new coronavirus to worry about this fall and winter—we’ll also have to be on guard to protect against the flu. Although most healthy people are able to recover from the flu easily, the illness can sometimes be more severe and even deadly—especially among young children, the elderly, and those with underlying health conditions, the CDC says.

“It is really important [to get the flu vaccine],” Dr. Redfield said. If there’s one thing we all can do to prepare for the fall (aside from social distancing, wearing a mask, hand washing, and being smart about gatherings) it’s to get the flu vaccine, he said. The CDC recommends people start getting vaccinated in September and October, but cautions that the vaccination process may be different this year due to COVID-19. So, if you’re someone who usually relies on vaccinations at your office but you’re WFH for the foreseeable future, for instance, you may need to think ahead and prepare for another way to get the vaccine this year.

The flu vaccine is important in any year, of course, but it’s especially crucial this year. “We’re going to have COVID-19 in the fall and we’re gong to have flu in the fall. Either one of those by itself can stress certain hospital systems,” Dr. Redfield said. “By getting that flu vaccine you may able to negate the necessity to have to take up a hospital bed,” he explained, and then that hospital bed can be more available to those who may need to be hospitalized with COVID-19.

However, Dr. Redfield said he was “cautiously optimistic” that we would have at least one vaccine deployed by the end of the year, and he noted how effective the Operation Warp Speed partnership between the government and private pharmaceutical companies has been so far. There are six vaccines “moving rapidly” right now, he said, and three that are currently in phase three trials. “I’ve never seen vaccine development move like this,” he said.

Still, as SELF reported previously, it’s important to remember that a vaccine alone won’t magically end the pandemic. And it won’t eliminate the need to keep up the other public health tools we’ve come to rely on, including social distancing, wearing masks, and washing our hands frequently.

Ultimately, Dr. Redfield says he hopes this pandemic solidifies just how important it is for the country to invest in public health—not just in the middle of a crisis like COVID-19, but well before it hits. “This is the greatest public health crisis to hit this nation in a century. We were underprepared,” he said. “And we need to owe it to our children and grandchildren [to make sure] this nation is never underprepared again for a public health crisis.”

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