Sometime yesterday, the official count of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 500,000.

We’ve been besieged by this pandemic — and the Trump administration’s cravenly incompetent response to it — for a year.

To make sure we aren’t numb to the magnitude of the suffering and loss, here is some further perspective on this tragic milestone:

• No country on Earth has lost more of its people to COVID-19 than the United States of America.

• In fact — even though only 1 out of every 23 people on the planet lives in this country — the U.S. accounts for 1 out of every 5 people struck down by the virus worldwide.

• During the nearly 20 years of the Vietnam War (yes, it really did last that long), just over 47,000 Americans were killed in combat. In the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, over 500,000 Americans have died.

• In other words, COVID-19 has so far been deadlier for Americans than 10.5 Vietnam Wars (and counting).

• The number of Americans we’ve lost to the coronavirus in just this first year is roughly equal to the current population of Atlanta, Georgia. How would our government have reacted if a foreign adversary had obliterated the entire population of one of this country’s major cities?

These statistics are one way to try and understand the scale of the tragedy, but it has been personal for all of us.

Many of you have contracted COVID-19. For some, the symptoms were mild. But for many others, they were not.

Many have lost their jobs or businesses.

A great many of us have lost people close to us. We’ve lost family and friends to a disease that was permitted to spin out of control.

All of us have suffered from isolation.

Yet, for all that, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic.

We are vaccinating millions of people every week and additional vaccines may soon be approved.

And — unlike Trump’s gang — the Biden administration actually wants to solve this problem and has key people in place with competency and experience related to their piece of the puzzle.

But we must not let our guard down.

There are variants of the coronavirus that are more contagious and possibly more lethal.

Tens of millions of Americans may refuse to get vaccinated, leaving a permanent foothold for the virus within our populace.

Rich countries like ours aren’t yet doing enough to help eradicate the coronavirus globally, allowing spikes and mutations to continue developing around the world.

Basic safety practices like physical distancing and mask wearing could slip as more and more people get vaccinated and as people simply tire of being vigilant.

So I’m asking every Public Citizen supporter to join me in this commitment:

Until public health officials give the all clear, I will remain vigilant about basic safety precautions, I will get vaccinated (when eligible), and I will push for the U.S. to be a leader in confronting the coronavirus worldwide.

Please add your name.

Thanks for making this commitment to keep each other safe.

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

P.S. For half a century, Public Citizen has been advancing policies that put the needs of everyday Americans before the greed of billionaires and Big Business. That legacy of progress and that ongoing work could not matter more right now, as our nation transitions to a Joe Biden presidency that will be as progressive as we — you and Public Citizen, together — make it. We’re also busy undoing all the damage Trump did. And, like so many nonprofits and small businesses, we continue to experience financial strain related to the coronavirus pandemic. If you can, please make an emergency donation today to support the critical work we’re doing together or even join our popular Monthly Giving program. Thank you.
 
 
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