At the top of the world…

The United States maintains its global lead in the number of COVID-19 infections with the total number of cases already approaching 40 million and the fatalities suffered during the entire pandemic period nearing 700,000. Meanwhile, the government is embroiled in an internal struggle for high-ranking posts, forgetting about the need to set up a working system of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, the United States has been breaking new records for the daily increase in the number of cases. According to American experts, this spike is due to the emergence of a new Indian “Delta” strain, which is more aggressive and has an increased mortality rate. The whole situation is further complicated by the authorities’ failure to spread information about the need for vaccination. As a result, too many people tend to ignore the pandemic, refusing to wear facemasks and become vaccinated.

Against this backdrop, hospitals across America are now swept by fourth wave of the pandemic. Clinics in Montana are already overcrowded by 150 percent and running out of oxygen for ventilators with the heads of hospitals now turning to the National Guard for help in transporting infected people.

Hospitals across the country are already overcrowded and capable of accepting maximum 100,000 coronavirus patients a day – more than at any time since the end of last year, when the vaccine was not yet available to all Americans. Most of the sick have to wait for days on the street and many die during the long wait. At the same time, hospitals are facing a personnel crisis, as nurses leave or retire and doctors are morally exhausted and physically unable to cope with the influx of patients.

The coronavirus has not spared the military either. In the United States, 436 military personnel have already died from COVID. Overall, almost 348,000 Department of Defense personnel have contracted the virus. As of September 1, 2021, there were more than 230,000 coronavirus-infected military personnel in the United States. Almost 34,000 of their family members have also been infected, in addition to 83,000 Pentagon contractors and civil servants.

Moreover, Washington’s promised help to deliver the vaccine to partner countries has also fallen through primarily due to disagreements within the government over resolving issues related to Ukraine and the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan. As a result, domestic health problems were put on the back burner.

All of this is causing concern among the Americans and creating a sense of distrust in countries that need US vaccine supplies.