COVID-19 pandemic in the United States#Economic

{{Main|Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (2020)|Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States (2021)}}

{{See also|List of early cases of COVID-19 in the United States|Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019}}

{{COVID-19 pandemic data/United_States deaths chart post emergency|float=center|barwidth=medium|weekly=true|duration=105}}

{{COVID-19 pandemic data/United States medical cases chart|float=center|barwidth=medium|weekly=true|duration=105}}

In November 2019, COVID-19 infections had first broken out in Wuhan, China.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Margolin|first1=Josh|last2=Meek|first2=James Gordon|date=April 8, 2020|title=Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources|publisher=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/intelligence-report-warned-coronavirus-crisis-early-november-sources/story?id=70031273|access-date=December 6, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Diaz|first=Jaclyn|date=December 1, 2020|title=Coronavirus Was In U.S. Weeks Earlier Than Previously Known, Study Says|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/01/940395651/coronavirus-was-in-u-s-weeks-earlier-than-previously-known-study-says|access-date=December 1, 2020|publisher=NPR}} China publicly reported the cluster on December 31, 2019.{{#invoke:Cite journal||title=First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States|vauthors=Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, Wiesman J, Bruce H, Spitters C, Ericson K, Wilkerson S, Tural A, Diaz G, Cohn A, Fox L, Patel A, Gerber SI, Kim L, Tong S, Lu X, Lindstrom S, Pallansch MA, Weldon WC, Biggs HM, Uyeki TM, Pillai SK|date=March 2020|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=382|issue=10|pages=929–936|doi=10.1056/NEJMoa2001191|pmc=7092802|doi-access=free|title-link=doi|pmid=32004427 }} After China confirmed that the cluster of infections was caused by a novel infectious coronavirus on January 7, 2020, the CDC issued an official health advisory the following day.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00424.asp |title=Outbreak of Pneumonia of Unknown Etiology (PUE) in Wuhan, China |publisher=CDC |date=January 8, 2020 }} On January 20, the World Health Organization (WHO) and China both confirmed that human-to-human transmission had occurred.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Kuo |first1=Lily |title=China confirms human-to-human transmission of coronavirus |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/20/coronavirus-spreads-to-beijing-as-china-confirms-new-cases |access-date=April 19, 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=January 21, 2020}} The CDC immediately activated its Emergency operations center (EOC) to respond to the outbreak in China.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://emergency.cdc.gov/recentincidents/ |title=CDC Emergency Operations Center Activations |publisher=CDC |date=January 20, 2020 }} Also, the first report of a COVID-19 case in the U.S. was publicly reported, though the All of Us study (released in 2021) showed five states already had cases weeks earlier.{{#invoke:cite journal||title=Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in All of Us Research Program Participants, January 2-March 18, 2020|vauthors=Althoff KN, Schlueter DJ, Anton-Culver H, Cherry J, Denny JC, Thomsen I, Karlson EW, Havers FP, Cicek MS, Thibodeau SN, Pinto LA, Lowy D, Malin BA, Ohno-Machado L, Williams C, Goldstein D, Kouame A, Ramirez A, Roman A, Sharpless NE, Gebo KA, Schully SD|journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases|date=June 2021|volume=74|issue=4|pages=584–590|doi=10.1093/cid/ciab519|pmc=8384413|doi-access=free|pmid=34128970 }} After other cases were reported, on January 30, the WHO declared a Public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC){{snd}}its highest level of alarm{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline|title=Timeline: WHO's COVID-19 response|access-date=September 11, 2020|publisher=World Health Organization}}{{snd}}warning that "all countries should be prepared for containment".{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Boseley|first1=Sarah|date=January 30, 2020|title=WHO declares coronavirus a global health emergency|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/who-declares-coronavirus-a-global-health-emergency|access-date=March 30, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Kennedy|first1=Merrit|date=January 30, 2020|title=WHO Declares Coronavirus Outbreak A Global Health Emergency |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/01/30/798894428/who-declares-coronavirus-outbreak-a-global-health-emergency|access-date=April 19, 2020}}{{efn|The editorial board for The Wall Street Journal suggested the world may have been "better prepared" had the PHEIC been declared a week sooner, when the virus had spread to other countries.{{#invoke:cite news||title=World Health Coronavirus Disinformation |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/world-health-coronavirus-disinformation-11586122093 |access-date=April 29, 2020 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200409192517/https://www.wsj.com/articles/world-health-coronavirus-disinformation-11586122093 |archive-date=April 9, 2020}}}} The same day, the CDC confirmed the first person-to-person case in the U.S.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/30/trump-says-coronavirus-outbreak-is-all-under-control-and-is-a-very-small-problem-in-us.html|title=Trump says coronavirus outbreak is 'all under control' and a 'very small problem' in US|last=Wayland |first=Michael|publisher=CNBC (NBCUniversal)|date=January 30, 2020|access-date=September 11, 2020 }} The next day, the country declared a public health emergency.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2020/01/31/declares-public-health-emergency-from-coronavirus/9WMXL38AdA08GJworROtII/story.html |title=US declares public health emergency from coronavirus |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 1, 2020 }} Although by that date there were only seven known cases in the U.S., the HHS and CDC reported that there was a likelihood of further cases appearing in the country.

The Trump administration evacuated American nationals from Wuhan in January.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Diamond |first=Dan |date=January 28, 2021 |title=U.S. handling of American evacuees from Wuhan increased coronavirus risks, watchdog finds |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/28/wuhan-americans-evacuation/ |url-status=dead |access-date=February 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207054532/https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/01/28/wuhan-americans-evacuation/ |archive-date=February 7, 2021 }} On February 2, the U.S. enacted travel restrictions to and from China. On February 6, the earliest confirmed American death with COVID-19 (that of a 57-year-old woman) occurred in Santa Clara County, California. The CDC did not report its confirmation until April 21,{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Moon|first1=Sarah|date=April 24, 2020|title=A seemingly healthy woman's sudden death is now the first known US coronavirus-related fatality|publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/23/us/california-woman-first-coronavirus-death/index.html|access-date=May 25, 2020}} by which point nine other COVID-19 deaths had occurred in Santa Clara County.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Debolt|first=David|date=April 25, 2020|title=29 people had flu-like symptoms when they died in Santa Clara County. Nine tested positive for coronavirus|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/25/9-santa-clara-deaths-reclassified-as-covid-19-related|access-date=December 30, 2020|website=The Mercury News}} The virus had been circulating undetected at least since early January and possibly as early as November.{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Melinek|first=Judy|date=May 1, 2020|title=When Did COVID-19 Arrive and Could We Have Spotted It Earlier?|url=https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19/86291|access-date=May 7, 2020|publisher=MedPage Today}}

On February 25, the CDC warned the American public for the first time to prepare for a local outbreak.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Taylor |first1=Marisa |title=Exclusive: U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-cdc-exclusiv/exclusive-u-s-axed-cdc-expert-job-in-china-months-before-virus-outbreak-idUSKBN21910S |access-date=March 24, 2020 |publisher=Reuters |date=March 23, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite journal ||vauthors=Schuchat A |date=May 2020 |title=Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24 – April 21, 2020 |journal=MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |volume=69 |issue=18 |pages=551–556 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm6918e2 |pmc=7737947 |doi-access=free |pmid=32379733 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6918e2-H.pdf }} The next day, New York City saw the sickening of its "patient zero", Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz, then thought to be the first community-acquired case.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://nysba.org/lawrence-garbuz-new-yorks-first-known-covid-19-case-reveals-what-he-learned-about-attorney-well-being-from-the-virus/|title=Lawrence Garbuz, New York's First Known COVID-19 Case, Reveals What He Learned About Attorney Well-Being From the Virus|date=August 11, 2020|website=New York State Bar Association}}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19s-patient-zero-what-life-is-like-for-the-new-york-lawyer-11614686401|title=COVID-19's 'Patient Zero' in New York: What Life Is Like for the New Rochelle Lawyer|first=Leslie|last=Brody|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=March 6, 2021}}{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-area-s-patient-zero-says-coronavirus-wasn-t-n1204231|title=New York area's 'patient zero' says coronavirus 'wasn't on my mind' when he got sick|website=NBC News|date=May 11, 2020 }} Another case known as "patient zero" in Los Angeles was a man named Gregg Garfield, who spent 64 days in the Burbank Hospital, on a ventilator for 30 days, with a 1% chance to live. Contracting the virus from a ski trip, Garfield was able to return to the slopes, although with some fingers and toes amputated.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.foxla.com/news/im-back-in-action-one-of-the-first-americans-who-contracted-covid-19-speaks-about-his-recovery|title='I'm back in action,' One of the first Americans who contracted COVID-19 speaks about his recovery|date=March 13, 2021}}

In February, Vice President Mike Pence took over for HHS Secretary Alex Azar as chair of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, with Trump saying, "We are very, very ready for this, for anything, whether it's going to be a breakout of larger proportions, or whether we're at that very low level".{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/27/coronavirus-what-we-know-mike-pence-and-task-force/4891905002/|work=USA Today|access-date=November 26, 2020|title=What we know about the White House coronavirus task force now that Mike Pence is in charge|vauthors=Santucci J|date=February 27, 2020}} In late February Trump proposed allocating $2.5 billion to fight the outbreak, but Congress instead approved $8.3 billion with only Senator Rand Paul and Representatives Andy Biggs and Ken Buck voting against, and Trump signed the bill on March 6.

File:President Trump Signs the Congressional Funding Bill for Coronavirus Response (49627907646).jpg into law]]

By March 11, the virus had spread to 110 countries, and the WHO officially declared a pandemic. The CDC had already warned that large numbers of people needing hospital care could overload the healthcare system, which would lead to otherwise preventable deaths.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html |title=Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Summary |publisher=U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |access-date=March 7, 2020|date=March 7, 2020 }}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-pandemic-who.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311201006/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-pandemic-who.html |archive-date=March 11, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Coronavirus Has Become a Pandemic, W.H.O. Says |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 11, 2020 }} Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci said the mortality from COVID-19 was ten times higher than the common flu.{{#invoke:cite news||date=March 11, 2020|title=Dr. Anthony Fauci addresses COVID-19 mortality rate|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4860450/user-clip-dr-anthony-fauci-addresses-covid-19-mortality-rate|access-date=September 30, 2020|publisher=C-SPAN}} By March 12, diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. exceeded a thousand.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/11/coronavirus-live-updates/ |title=Live updates: As U.S. coronavirus cases top 1,000, mixed signs of recovery in China, South Korea |newspaper=The Washington Post|first1=Adam |last1=Taylor |first2=Teo |last2=Armus |date=March 11, 2020 |access-date=March 11, 2020 }} Trump declared a national emergency on March 13. On March 16, the White House advised against any gatherings of more than ten people.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Liptak |first1=Kevin |title=White House advises public to avoid groups of more than 10, asks people to stay away from bars and restaurants |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/politics/white-house-guidelines-coronavirus/index.html |access-date=March 18, 2020 |publisher=CNN|date=March 16, 2020}} Three days later, the United States Department of State advised U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/travel-advisory-alert-global-level-4-health-advisory-issue.html|title=Global Level 4 Health Advisory – Do Not Travel|website=travel.state.gov|access-date=March 20, 2020|archive-date=August 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803191150/https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/travel-advisory-alert-global-level-4-health-advisory-issue.html|url-status=dead}}

By the middle of March, all fifty states were able to perform tests with a doctor's approval, either from the CDC or from commercial labs. However, the number of available test kits remained limited.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/why-coronavirus-testing-us-so-delayed/607954/ |title=The 4 Key Reasons the U.S. Is So Behind on Coronavirus Testing |work=The Atlantic |date=March 15, 2020 }} As cases began spreading throughout the nation, federal and state agencies began taking urgent steps to prepare for a surge of hospital patients. Among the actions was establishing additional places for patients in case hospitals became overwhelmed.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2020-03-30/coronavirus-event-companies-coachella-pivot-covid-19-testing |title=They were supposed to build stages for Coachella. Now they're building coronavirus triage tents |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 30, 2020 }}

Throughout March and early April, several state, city, and county governments imposed "stay at home" quarantines on their populations to stem the spread of the virus.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Norwood |first1=Candace |title=Most states have issued stay-at-home orders, but enforcement varies widely |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/most-states-have-issued-stay-at-home-orders-but-enforcement-varies-widely |access-date=April 9, 2020 |publisher=PBS NewsHour |date=April 3, 2020}} By March 26, The New York Times data showed the United States to have the highest number of known cases of any country.{{#invoke:cite news||last=McNeil|first=Donald G. Jr. |title=The U.S. Now Leads the World in Confirmed Coronavirus Cases|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/health/usa-coronavirus-cases.html |date=March 26, 2020 |work=The New York Times |access-date=March 26, 2022}} By March 27, the country had reported over 100,000 cases.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Chan |first1=Christine |last2=Shumaker |first2=Lisa |last3=Maler |first3=Sandra |title=Confirmed coronavirus cases in U.S. reach 100,000: Reuters tally |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-cases/confirmed-coronavirus-cases-in-u-s-reach-100000-reuters-tally-idUSKBN21E3DA |date=March 28, 2020 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=March 28, 2020 }} On April 2, at Trump's direction, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and CDC ordered additional preventive guidelines to the long-term care facility industry.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.mcknights.com/news/trump-wants-masks-on-all-nursing-home-workers-temperature-checks-for-all-and-separate-covid-units/ |title=Trump wants masks on all nursing home workers, temperature checks for all, and separate COVID-19 units |work=McKnight's Long-term Care News |date=April 3, 2020 }} On April 11, the U.S. death toll became the highest in the world when the number of deaths reached 20,000, surpassing that of Italy.{{#invoke:cite news||date=April 11, 2020|title=U.S. coronavirus deaths top 20,000, highest in world exceeding Italy: Reuters tally|publisher=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-casualties-idUSKCN21T0NA|access-date=May 1, 2020}} On April 19, the CMS added new regulations requiring nursing homes to inform residents, their families and representatives, of COVID-19 cases in their facilities.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/trump-administration-announces-new-nursing-homes-covid-19-transparency-effort |title=Trump Administration Announces New Nursing Homes COVID-19 Transparency Effort |publisher=Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |date=April 19, 2020 }} On April 28, the total number of confirmed cases across the country surpassed 1{{nbsp}}million.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/28/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html|title=US coronavirus cases surpass 1 million and the death toll is greater than US losses in Vietnam War|author1=Steve Almasy |author2=Christina Maxouris |author3=Nicole Chavez|publisher=CNN|access-date=April 29, 2020}}

By May 27, less than four months after the pandemic reached the U.S., 100,000 Americans had died with COVID-19.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/100000-deaths-american-coronavirus/ |title=U.S. coronavirus death toll surpasses 100,000, exposing nation's vulnerabilities |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Fisher |first=Marc |date=May 27, 2020 |access-date=July 23, 2020 }} State economic reopenings and lack of widespread mask orders resulted in a sharp rise in cases across most of the continental U.S. outside of the Northeast.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/11/coronavirus-update-us/ |title=U.S. surpasses 2 million coronavirus cases |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 11, 2020 |access-date=July 23, 2020 | last= Farzan |first=Antonia Noori|display-authors=etal }} A study conducted in May indicated that the true number of COVID-19 cases in the United States was much higher than the number of confirmed cases with some locations having 6–24 times higher infections, which was further confirmed by a later population-wide serosurvey.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/21/cdc-study-actual-covid-19-cases/|title=Actual COVID-19 case count could be 6 to 24 times higher than official estimates, CDC study shows|website=statnews|last=Joseph |first=Andrew|publisher=Stat|date=July 21, 2020|access-date=January 26, 2021 }}{{#invoke:cite journal ||vauthors=Havers FP, Reed C, Lim T, Montgomery JM, Klena JD, Hall AJ, Fry AM, Cannon DL, Chiang CF, Gibbons A, Krapiunaya I, Morales-Betoulle M, Roguski K, Rasheed MA, Freeman B, Lester S, Mills L, Carroll DS, Owen SM, Johnson JA, Semenova V, Blackmore C, Blog D, Chai SJ, Dunn A, Hand J, Jain S, Lindquist S, Lynfield R, Pritchard S, Sokol T, Sosa L, Turabelidze G, Watkins SM, Wiesman J, Williams RW, Yendell S, Schiffer J, Thornburg NJ |title=Seroprevalence of Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in 10 Sites in the United States, March 23-May 12, 2020 |journal=JAMA Internal Medicine |date=July 2020 |volume=180 |issue=12 |page=1576 |doi=10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.4130 |issn=2168-6106|doi-access=free |pmid=32692365 }}{{#invoke:cite news||last=DeVille|first=Taylor|title=Almost 17 million U.S. coronavirus cases were not detected during first half of 2020, study led by UMBC graduate finds|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-co-coronavirus-scope-nih-study-20210219-hpp5zqoum5dnfd553pdimoy7au-story.html|access-date=March 19, 2021|work=The Baltimore Sun}}

On July 6, the United States Department of State announced the country's withdrawal from WHO effective July 6, 2021.{{#invoke:cite news||title=Briefing on the U.S. Government's Next Steps With Regard to Withdrawal From the World Health Organization|url=https://www.state.gov/briefing-with-nerissa-cook-deputy-assistant-secretary-of-state-bureau-of-international-organization-affairs-garrett-grigsby-director-of-the-office-of-global-affairs-department-of-health-and-human/|date=September 2, 2020|access-date=November 26, 2020|publisher=US Department of State}} On July 10, the CDC adopted the Infection Fatality Ratio (IFR), "the number of individuals who die of the disease among all infected individuals (symptomatic and asymptomatic)", as a new metric for disease severity.{{#invoke:Cite web||date=July 10, 2020|title=COVID-19 Pandemic Planning Scenarios|url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios-archive/planning-scenarios-2020-09-10.pdf|access-date=September 29, 2020|publisher=CDC}} In July, US PIRG and 150 health professionals sent a letter asking the federal government to "shut it down now, and start over".{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/07/24/medical-experts-tell-government-shut-it-down-now-and-start-over/#5c0f64e7695c|title=Medical Experts Tell Government: 'Shut It Down Now, And Start Over'|last=Durkee |first=Alison|date=July 24, 2020|access-date=July 25, 2020|work=Forbes Media }} In July and early August, requests multiplied, with a number of experts asking for lockdowns of "six to eight weeks"{{#invoke:cite news||title=America Could Control the Pandemic by October. Let's Get to It.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-response-testing-lockdown.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808184022/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-response-testing-lockdown.html |archive-date=August 8, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|last=Board |first=Editorial|date=August 8, 2020|access-date=August 8, 2020|work=The New York Times }} that they believed would restore the country by October 1, in time to reopen schools and have an in-person election.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=Resetting Our Response: Changes Needed in the US Approach to COVID-19|vauthors=Rivers C, Martin E, Watson C, Schoch-Spana M, Cicero A, Inglesby T|year=2020|url=https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/publications/resetting-our-response-changes-needed-in-the-us-approach-to-covid-19|publisher=Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security|location=Baltimore, MD}} and {{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.khou.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/us-life-back-to-normal-by-october-with-local-experts-plan/285-296ded16-c271-4306-a08b-e31123351161|date=July 23, 2020|last=Benito |first=Marcelino|publisher=KHOU-TV|title=Back to normal by October? Dr. Hotez sends the White House a national, unified coronavirus plan }} and {{#invoke:cite news||title=Here's How to Crush the Virus Until Vaccines Arrive|last1=Osterholm|first1=Michael T.|last2=Kashkari|first2=Neel|date=August 7, 2020|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/opinion/coronavirus-lockdown-unemployment-death.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807192015/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/opinion/coronavirus-lockdown-unemployment-death.html |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}} and {{#invoke:cite news||last=Slavitt |first=Andy|title=Joe Biden is the national reset we need on COVID-19, but he's more than 75,000 lives away|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/08/04/trump-ignores-covid-deaths-need-for-national-strategy-column/5574327002/|date=August 4, 2020|work=USA Today }} and {{#invoke:cite news||title=Winter is coming: Why America's window of opportunity to beat back COVID-19 is closing|last=Branswell |first=Helen|date=August 10, 2020|access-date=August 11, 2020|url=https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/10/winter-is-coming-as-flu-season-nears-americas-window-of-opportunity-to-beat-back-covid-19-is-narrowing/|publisher=STAT }}

In August, over 400,000 people attended the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, and from there, at least 300 people in more than 20 states were infected.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/us/sturgis-coronavirus-cases.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106213428/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/us/sturgis-coronavirus-cases.html |archive-date=November 6, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=November 6, 2020|first1=Mark|last1=Walker|first2=Jack|last2=Healy|title=A Motorcycle Rally in a Pandemic? 'We Kind of Knew What Was Going to Happen'|access-date=November 7, 2020|work=The New York Times}} The CDC followed up with a report on the associated 51 confirmed primary event-associated cases, 21 secondary cases, and five tertiary cases in the neighboring state of Minnesota, where one attendee died of COVID-19.{{#invoke:cite journal||title=COVID-19 Outbreak Associated with a 10-Day Motorcycle Rally in a Neighboring State – Minnesota, August–September 2020|vauthors=Firestone MJ, Wienkes H, Garfin J, Wang X, Vilen K, Smith KE, Holzbauer S, Plumb M, Pung K, Medus C, Yao JD, Binnicker MJ, Nelson AC, Yohe S, Como-Sabetti K, Ehresmann K, Lynfield R, Danila R|date=November 2020|journal=MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep|volume=69|issue=47|pages=1771–1776|doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm6947e1|pmc=8022865|s2cid=227176504|doi-access=free|pmid=33237891 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6947e1-H.pdf }} The U.S. passed five million COVID-19 cases by August 8.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-cases/u-s-sets-record-as-coronavirus-cases-top-5-million-idUSKCN2540XB |title=U.S. sets record as coronavirus cases top 5 million |publisher=Reuters |first=Diane |last=Craft |date=August 8, 2020 |access-date=September 25, 2020}}

{{See also|White House COVID-19 outbreak}}

On September 22, the U.S. passed 200,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/22/911934489/enormous-and-tragic-u-s-has-lost-more-than-200-000-people-to-covid-19 |title='Enormous And Tragic': U.S. Has Lost More Than 200,000 People To COVID-19 |publisher=NPR |date=September 22, 2020 |access-date=September 22, 2020 |last=Chappel |first=Billl }} In early October, an unprecedented series of high-profile U.S. political figures and staffers announced they had tested positive for COVID-19.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Haberman|first1=Maggie|last2=Shear|first2=Michael D.|date=October 1, 2020|title=Trump Says He'll Begin 'Quarantine Process' After Hope Hicks Tests Positive for Coronavirus|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/us/politics/hope-hicks-coronavirus.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002052827/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/us/politics/hope-hicks-coronavirus.html |archive-date=October 2, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=October 3, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Moreno|first=J. Edward|date=October 2, 2020|title=White House wanted to keep Hope Hicks's positive COVID-19 test private: report|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/519304-white-house-staff-wanted-to-keep-hope-hicks-positive-covid-19-test|access-date=October 3, 2020|work=The Hill}} On October 2, Trump announced on Twitter that both he and the First Lady had tested positive for COVID-19 and would immediately quarantine.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Dawsey|first1=Josh|last2=Itkowitz|first2=Colby|title=Trump says he and first lady have tested positive for coronavirus|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hope-hicks-close-trump-aide-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/2020/10/01/af238f7c-0444-11eb-897d-3a6201d6643f_story.html|access-date=October 2, 2020|issn=0190-8286}} Trump was given an experimental Regeneron product with two monoclonal antibodies{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/10/06/trumps-covid-19-treatments-suggest-severe-illness-uc-berkeley-expert-says/|title=Trump's COVID-19 treatments suggest severe illness, UC Berkeley expert says|last=Manke |first=Kara|date=October 6, 2020|access-date=October 7, 2020|publisher=UC Berkeley News }}{{Efn|In a news release, Sean Conley, physician to President Trump, incorrectly identified Regeneron's monoclonal antibody product as polyclonal.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-10-02/memorandum-from-trumps-doctor-on-covid-19-treatment|title=Memorandum From Trump's Doctor on COVID-19 Treatment|date=October 2, 2020|agency=Associated Press|access-date=October 8, 2020|publisher=U.S. News & World Report}} and {{#invoke:cite journal||title=Update: Here's what is known about Trump's COVID-19 treatment|last=Cohen|first=Jon|date=October 5, 2020|journal=Science|doi=10.1126/science.abf0974|s2cid=225114036}}}} and taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center,{{#invoke:cite news||last=Liptak|first=Kevin|title=Trump taken to Walter Reed medical center and will be hospitalized 'for the next few days'|date=October 3, 2020|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/02/politics/president-donald-trump-walter-reed-coronavirus/index.html|access-date=February 24, 2021|publisher=CNN}} where he was given remdesivir and dexamethasone.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/04/trump-covid-19-discharge/|title=Prospect of Trump's early hospital discharge mystifies doctors|last1=Cha |first1=Ariana Eunjungand |last2=Goldstein|first2=Amy|date=October 4, 2020|access-date=October 5, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post}}

USA Today studied the aftermath of presidential election campaigning, recognizing that causation was impossible to determine. Among their findings, cases increased 35 percent compared to 14 percent for the state after a Trump rally in Beltrami County, Minnesota. One case was traced to a Joe Biden rally in Duluth, Minnesota.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/10/22/trumps-campaign-made-stops-nationwide-then-coronavirus-cases-surged/3679534001/|first1=Erin|last1=Mansfield|first2=Josh|last2=Salman|first3=Dinah|last3=Voyles Pulver|date=October 22, 2020|access-date=October 26, 2020|work=USA Today|title=Trump's campaign made stops nationwide. Coronavirus cases surged in his wake in at least five places.}}

On November 9, President-elect Biden's transition team announced his COVID-19 Advisory Board.{{#invoke:Cite web||last1=Facher |first1=Lev |title=Biden transition team unveils members of COVID-19 task force |url=https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/09/biden-transition-team-unveils-members-of-covid-19-task-force/ |website=Stat |access-date=November 9, 2020 |date=November 9, 2020}} On the same day, the total number of cases had surpassed ten million{{#invoke:cite news||last=Wang|first=Christine|date=November 9, 2020|title=U.S. coronavirus cases cross 10 million as outbreaks spike across the nation|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/09/us-coronavirus-cases-cross-10-million.html|access-date=November 9, 2020|publisher=CNBC}} while the total had risen by over a million in the ten days prior, averaging 102,300 new cases per day.{{#invoke:cite news||title=10 Million People Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus in the United States|url=https://time.com/5909506/coronavirus-united-states-10-million/|access-date=November 9, 2020|magazine=Time}} Pfizer also announced that its COVID-19 vaccine may be up to ninety percent effective.{{#invoke:cite news||date=November 9, 2020|title=Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine is looking 90% effective|url=https://apnews.com/article/pfizer-vaccine-effective-early-data-4f4ae2e3bad122d17742be22a2240ae8|access-date=November 9, 2020|publisher=Associated Press}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Thomas|first1=Katie|last2=Gelles|first2=David|last3=Zimmer|first3=Carl|date=November 9, 2020|title=Pfizer's Early Data Shows Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/health/covid-vaccine-pfizer.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109114703/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/health/covid-vaccine-pfizer.html |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=November 9, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} In November, the Trump administration reached an agreement with a number of retail outlets, including pharmacies and supermarkets, to make the COVID-19 vaccine free once available.{{#invoke:cite news||title=Feds announce COVID-19 vaccine agreement with drug stores|url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-alex-azar-coronavirus-pandemic-bfe002c987d7ed15e61a5b4d433704bb|last=Alonso-Zalidivar|first=Ricardo|date=November 12, 2020|publisher=Associated Press|access-date=November 18, 2020}}

In spite of recommendations by the government not to travel, more than 2{{nbsp}}million people flew on airlines during the Thanksgiving period.{{#invoke:cite news||last=O'Brien|first=Matt|date=November 23, 2020|title=Many Americans flying for Thanksgiving despite CDC pleas|url=https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/11/thanksgiving-travel-many-americans-flying-for-holiday-despite-cdcs-pleas-not-to-due-to-covid-19-transmission-risk.html|access-date=November 27, 2020|work=The Republican|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206161511/https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/11/thanksgiving-travel-many-americans-flying-for-holiday-despite-cdcs-pleas-not-to-due-to-covid-19-transmission-risk.html|archive-date=February 6, 2021|url-status=live}} On December 8, the U.S. passed 15{{nbsp}}million cases, with about one out of every 22 Americans having tested positive since the pandemic began.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/12/08/covid-news-britain-vaccine-wyoming-california-donald-trump/6481339002/|title=Coronavirus updates: Joe Biden pledges to deliver 100M doses in 100 days; US reaches 15M infections; Ohio-State Michigan football game off|work=USA Today|last1=Bacon|first1=John|last2=Aspegren|first2=Elinor|last3=Hauck|first3=Grace|date=December 8, 2020|access-date=December 8, 2020}} On December 14, the U.S. passed 300,000 deaths, representing an average of more than 961 deaths per day since the first known death on February 6. More than 50,000 deaths were reported in the past month, with an average of 2,403 daily deaths occurring in the past week.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/health/us-covid-deaths-300k/index.html|title=COVID-19 now kills more than 1 American every minute. And the rate keeps accelerating as the death toll tops 300,000|publisher=CNN|last=Yan|first=Holly|date=December 14, 2020|access-date=December 14, 2020}}

On December 24, following concerns over a probably more easily transmissible new SARS-CoV-2 variant from the United Kingdom, later called Alpha, the CDC announced testing requirements for American passengers traveling from the UK, to be administered within 72 hours, starting on December 28.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/u-s-to-require-all-air-passengers-arriving-from-u-k-to-test-negative-for-covid-19-11608872050|title=U.S. to require all air passengers arriving from U.K. to test negative for COVID-19|publisher=MarketWatch|last=Murphy|first=Mike|date=December 24, 2020|access-date=December 24, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Tufekci|first=Zeynep|date=December 31, 2020|title=The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/12/virus-mutation-catastrophe/617531/|access-date=January 5, 2021|work=The Atlantic}} On December 29, the U.S. reported the first case of this variant in Colorado. The patient had no travel history, leading the CDC to say, "Given the small fraction of US infections that have been sequenced, the variant could already be in the United States without having been detected".{{#invoke:cite news||date=December 29, 2020|title=US reports its first known case of new UK Covid variant|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/29/us-first-case-new-uk-covid-variant|access-date=December 30, 2020|work=The Guardian}}

{{See also|COVID-19 vaccination in the United States}}

File:Biden oath of office.jpg, an economic crisis, and increased political polarization{{cite news |last1=Farley |first1=Robert |last2=Gore |first2=D'Angelo |last3=Jackson |first3=Brooks |date=January 20, 2021 |title=Fact Check: What President Biden Inherits |url=https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/fact-check-what-president-biden-inherits/2448953/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303104047/https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/national-international/fact-check-what-president-biden-inherits/2448953/ |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |access-date=July 5, 2021 |website=NBC Bay Area}}]]

On January 1, 2021, the U.S. passed 20{{nbsp}}million cases, representing an increase of more than a million over the past week and 10{{nbsp}}million in less than two months.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-surpasses-20-million-cases-of-coronavirus-on-first-day-of-2021/|title=U.S. surpasses 20 million cases of coronavirus on first day of 2021|publisher=CBS News|last=Cohen|first=Li|date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021}}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/01/us-coronavirus-cases-20-million-453275|title=U.S. coronavirus cases eclipse 20 million|work=Politico|last=Lim|first=David|date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021}} On January 6, the CDC announced that it had found at least 52 confirmed cases of the Alpha variant, and it also stressed that there could already be more cases in the country.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/06/health/coronavirus-variant-us-cdc-cases/index.html|title=CDC has found more than 50 US cases of coronavirus variant first identified in UK|publisher=CNN|last=Nedelman|first=Michael|date=January 6, 2021|access-date=January 7, 2021}} In the following days, more cases of the variant were reported in other states, leading former CDC director Tom Frieden to express his concerns that the U.S. would soon face "close to a worst-case scenario".{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/01/08/close-to-a-worst-case-scenario-former-cdc-director-issues-horrifying-outlook-for-new-covid-strain/|title='Close To A Worst-Case Scenario' – Former CDC Director Issues 'Horrifying' Outlook For New Covid Strain|work=Forbes|last=Reimann|first=Nicholas|date=January 8, 2021|access-date=January 12, 2021}} It was believed the variant had been present in the U.S. since October.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/01/now-coronavirus-variant-us-since-october|title=New coronavirus variant may have been in US since October|work=The Guardian|last1=Geddes|first1=Linda|last2=Holpuch|first2=Amanda|date=January 1, 2021|access-date=February 4, 2021}}

On January 19, the U.S. passed 400,000 deaths, just five weeks after the country passed 300,000 deaths.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/19/957488613/as-death-rate-accelerates-u-s-records-400-000-lives-lost-to-the-coronavirus|title=As Death Rate Accelerates, U.S. Records 400,000 Lives Lost To The Coronavirus|publisher=NPR|last=Stone|first=Will|date=January 19, 2021|access-date=January 23, 2021}} On January 22, the U.S. passed 25{{nbsp}}million cases, with one of every 13 Americans testing positive for COVID-19.{{#invoke:cite news||title=U.S. coronavirus cases top 25 million|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/us/covid-coronavirus-25-million-cases.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/us/covid-coronavirus-25-million-cases.html |archive-date=December 28, 2021 |url-access=limited|work=The New York Times|first=Lucy|last=Tompkins|date=January 22, 2021|access-date=January 23, 2021| url-status=live }} On January 29, a nationwide requirement for use of face masks on public transit and other forms of public transportation was issued by the CDC and the federal Transportation Security Administration, to go into effect on February 1.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Montague |first1=Zach |title=The C.D.C. Issues Mask Mandate for Domestic Travel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/30/world/cdc-mask-mandate.html |access-date=April 14, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=January 30, 2021}}{{#invoke:Cite web||title=Federal Mask Requirement for Transit |url=https://www.transit.dot.gov/TransitMaskUp |publisher=Federal Transit Administration |access-date=January 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104232853/https://www.transit.dot.gov/TransitMaskUp |archive-date=January 4, 2022 |url-status=live}} (Subsequently, extended, the federal mask mandate for public transportation remains in effect in April 2022.){{#invoke:cite news||last1=Murphy |first1=Heather |title=The C.D.C. extends the mask mandate on planes and public transit another two weeks |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/travel/the-cdc-extends-the-mask-mandate-on-planes-and-public-transit-another-two-weeks.html |access-date=April 14, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 13, 2022}}

On February 22, the U.S. passed 500,000 deaths, just five weeks after the country passed 400,000 deaths.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/02/22/969494791/a-loss-to-the-whole-society-u-s-covid-19-death-toll-reaches-500-000|title='A Loss To The Whole Society': U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Reaches 500,000|publisher=NPR|last=Huang|first=Pien|date=February 22, 2021|accessdate=February 23, 2021}} By March 5, more than 2,750 cases of COVID-19 variants were detected in 47 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-03-05-21/h_a477f29adbc8220a012ccd08e89c302b|title=More than 2,750 cases of coronavirus variants reported in the US|publisher=CNN|last1=Yeung|first1=Jessie|last2=McKeehan|first2=Brett|access-date=March 5, 2021}} In the first prime time address of his presidency, on March 11, Biden announced his plan to push states to make vaccines available to all adults by May 1, with the aim of making small gatherings possible by July 4.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Sullivan|first=Sean|title=Biden directs states to make all adults eligible for vaccine by May 1|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-address-vaccine/2021/03/11/2cde7132-8278-11eb-9ca6-54e187ee4939_story.html|access-date=March 12, 2021|issn=0190-8286}} On March 24, the U.S. passed 30{{nbsp}}million cases, just as a number of states began to expand the eligibility age for COVID-19 vaccines.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-cases/u-s-covid-19-cases-top-30-million-as-states-race-to-vaccinate-idUSKBN2BG2QU|title=U.S. COVID-19 cases top 30 million as states race to vaccinate|publisher=Reuters|last=Maan|first=Anurag|date=March 24, 2021|access-date=March 24, 2021}} Experts began warning against public relaxation of COVID-19 mitigation measures as vaccines continue to be administered, with CDC director Rochelle Walensky, warning of a new rise in cases.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/27/health/us-coronavirus-saturday/index.html|title=Record COVID-19 vaccinations don't mean it's time to relax, officials say|publisher=CNN|last=Cullinane|first=Susannah|date=March 27, 2021|access-date=March 27, 2021}}File:President Joe Biden visits Walter Reed (03).jpg visits a COVID-19 vaccination site at Walter Reed Medical Center]]By April 7, the Alpha variant had become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/uk-variant-dominant-covid-strain-us-cdc/story?id=76929773|title=UK variant has become most dominant COVID strain in US, CDC says|publisher=ABC News|last=Haslett|first=Cheyenne|date=April 7, 2021|access-date=April 11, 2021}} On April 12, the U.S. reported its first cases of a new "double mutant" SARS-CoV-2 variant from India, later called Delta, in California.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Haseltine |first=William A. |date=April 12, 2021 |title=An Indian SARS-CoV-2 Variant Lands In California. More Danger Ahead? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/04/12/an-indian-sars-cov-2-variant-lands-in-california-more-danger-ahead/ |work=Forbes |location=USA |access-date=April 20, 2021}} By April 25, the country's seven-day average of new infections was reported to be decreasing, but concerns were raised about drops in vaccine demand in certain parts of the U.S., which were attributed to vaccine hesitancy.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/25/health/us-coronavirus-sunday/index.html|title=Some parts of the US are more vulnerable to another hit by coronavirus. Here's why|publisher=CNN|last=Maxouris|first=Christina|date=April 25, 2021|access-date=April 25, 2021}}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/18/us/covid-vaccine-slowing-us-demand/index.html|title=COVID-19 vaccine demand is slowing in parts of the US. Now an uphill battle starts to get more shots into arms|publisher=CNN|last=Maxouris|first=Christina|date=April 18, 2021|access-date=April 25, 2021}}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/23/us/covid-vaccine-hinds-county-mississippi/index.html|title=Vaccine hesitancy in Hinds County, Mississippi, is a story shared elsewhere|publisher=CNN|last1=Savidge|first1=Martin|last2=Barajas|first2=Angela|last3=Waldrop|first3=Theresa|date=April 23, 2021|access-date=April 25, 2021}} On April 29, the CDC estimated that roughly 35% of the U.S. population had been infected with the virus as of March 2021, about four times higher than the official reported numbers.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-vaccine-updates-04-29-21/h_40d99e1d1aab9c3a21ec4aab66071f86 |title=More than a third of the US has been infected with COVID-19, CDC estimates |publisher=CNN |last=Nedelman |first=Michael |date=April 29, 2021 }}

On May 4, Biden announced a new goal of having 70 percent of all adults in the U.S. receive at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot by July 4, along with steps to vaccinate teenagers and more inaccessible populations.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/04/bidens-new-covid-goal-70-adults-partially-vaccinated-july-4/4940268001/|title=Biden's new goal: 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4|work=USA Today|last=Groppe|first=Maureen|date=May 4, 2021|access-date=May 4, 2021}} The country ultimately did not reach that goal, with only 67 percent of the overall adult population having done so by July 4.{{#invoke:cite news||title=As COVID Vaccinations Slow, Parts Of The U.S. Remain Far Behind 70% Goal|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/07/05/1013080128/as-covid-vaccinations-slow-parts-of-the-u-s-remain-far-behind-70-goal|last1=Bebinger |first1=Martha |last2=Farmer |first2=Blake|date=July 5, 2021|access-date=July 5, 2021|publisher=NPR}} On May 6, a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that the true COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. was more than 900,000 people.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/05/06/994287048/new-study-estimates-more-than-900-000-people-have-died-of-covid-19-in-u-s|title=New Study Estimates More Than 900,000 People Have Died Of COVID-19 In U.S.|publisher=NPR|last=Sullivan|first=Becky|date=May 6, 2021|access-date=May 11, 2021}} On May 9, Fauci confirmed that the U.S. death toll was likely undercounted.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/552523-fauci-no-doubt-us-has-undercounted-covid-19-deaths|title=Fauci: 'No doubt' US has undercounted COVID-19 deaths|work=The Hill|last=Bowden|first=John|date=May 9, 2021|access-date=May 11, 2021}}

On May 13, the CDC changed its guidance and said that fully vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks in most situations.{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Lovelace|first=Berkeley Jr.|date=May 13, 2021|title=CDC says fully vaccinated people don't need to wear face masks indoors or outdoors in most settings|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/13/cdc-says-fully-vaccinated-people-dont-need-to-wear-face-masks-indoors-or-outdoors-in-most-settings.html|access-date=May 26, 2021|publisher=CNBC}} Some states ended their mask mandates shortly after, while others maintained the mandate. The CDC was criticized for the confusion resulting from the announcement, as it did not remove existing state and local mandates. The guidance also did not remove the federal mask mandate on public transportation.{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Bursztynsky|first=Jessica|date=May 16, 2021|title=CDC director defends telling fully vaccinated they can go without masks amid confusion in states, cities|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/16/cdc-director-defends-lifting-mask-guidance-for-vaccinated.html|access-date=May 26, 2021|publisher=CNBC}} On June 15, the U.S. passed 600,000 deaths, though the number of daily deaths had decreased due to vaccination efforts.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-600k-deaths-us-1ef14a0b998e6ce99281edf6e996dfbe|title=US COVID-19 deaths hit 600,000, equal to yearly cancer toll|publisher=Associated Press|last1=Har|first1=Janie|last2=Kunzelman|first2=Michael|date=June 15, 2021|access-date=June 16, 2021}}

By June, COVID-19 cases rose again, especially in Arkansas, Nevada, Missouri, and Wyoming. The rising numbers were believed to be attributable to the Delta variant.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Soucheray |first1=Stephanie |title=US COVID-19 cases rise, likely due to Delta variant |url=https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/06/us-covid-19-cases-rise-likely-due-delta-variant |publisher=CIDRAP |date=June 29, 2021 |access-date=July 11, 2021}} By July 7, the Delta variant had surpassed the Alpha variant to become the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S., according to CDC data.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/07/cdc-data-shows-delta-is-now-the-dominant-covid-variant-in-the-us.html|title=CDC data shows highly transmissible delta variant is now the dominant Covid strain in the U.S.|publisher=CNBC|last=Lovelace|first=Berkeley Jr.|date=July 7, 2021|access-date=July 11, 2021}} By August the Delta variant accounted for 99 percent of all cases and was found to double the risk of hospitalization for those not yet vaccinated.[https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-08-28/hospitalization-risk-doubled-for-unvaccinated-covid-patients-infected-with-delta-variant "Among the unvaccinated, Delta variant more than doubles risk of hospitalization"], Los Angeles Times, August 28, 2021

On August 1, the U.S. passed 35{{nbsp}}million cases.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-passes-35-million-covid-cases-california-tops-4-n1275658|title=U.S. passes 35 million Covid cases as California tops 4 million|publisher=NBC News|last=Johnson|first=Alex|date=August 1, 2021|access-date=August 4, 2021}} By early and mid-August, hospitals in some states with low vaccination rates began to exceed capacity.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://news.yahoo.com/only-8-icu-beds-available-210431572.html|title=There are only 8 ICU beds available in the entire state of Arkansas as COVID-19 spikes|publisher=Yahoo! News|last1=Musumeci|first1=Natalie|last2=Davis|first2=Charles|date=August 9, 2021|accessdate=August 9, 2021}} One-quarter of the U.S. population resides in eight states—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and Texas—but, by mid-August, these states together had a half of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the nation.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Caldwell|first=Travis|date=August 13, 2021|title=These 8 states make up half of US COVID-19 hospitalizations. And the surge among the unvaccinated is overwhelming health care workers|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/13/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html|access-date=August 13, 2021|publisher=CNN}} By the end of the month, the ICUs of five of those—Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas—were over 90% full.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Holcombe|first=Madeline|date=August 31, 2021|title=These 5 states have less than 10% of ICU beds left as COVID-19 overwhelms hospitals|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/31/health/us-coronavirus-tuesday/index.html|access-date=August 31, 2021|publisher=CNN}}

On September 8, the U.S. passed 40{{nbsp}}million cases.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-09-08/us-covid-19-cases-now-top-40-million|title=U.S. COVID-19 Cases Now Top 40 Million|publisher=U.S. News & World Report|last=Mundell|first=Ernie|date=September 8, 2021|accessdate=September 15, 2021}} By September 15, one in every 500 Americans had died from COVID-19.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/health/us-coronavirus-wednesday/index.html|title=1 in 500 US residents has died of COVID-19|publisher=CNN|last=Holcombe|first=Madeline|date=September 15, 2021|accessdate=September 15, 2021}} By September 20, COVID-19 had killed over 675,000 Americans, the estimated number of American deaths from the Spanish flu in 1918. As a result, COVID-19 became the deadliest respiratory pandemic in recent American history.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/20/covid-is-americas-deadliest-pandemic-as-us-fatalities-near-1918-flu-estimates.html|title=Covid is officially America's deadliest pandemic as U.S. fatalities surpass 1918 flu estimates|last=Lovelace|first=Berkeley Jr.|date=September 20, 2021|publisher=CNBC|access-date=September 20, 2021}} The Associated Press called the new numbers a "colossal tragedy" because, despite a century of advances in science, the country failed to take full advantage of vaccines.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://apnews.com/article/science-health-pandemics-united-states-coronavirus-pandemic-c15d5c6dd7ece88d0832993f11279fbb|last=Johnson|first=Carla K.|date=September 20, 2021|title=COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu|access-date=September 20, 2021|publisher=Associated Press}} On October 1, the U.S. passed 700,000 deaths.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-covid-19-death-toll-hits-700000-2021-10-01/|title=U.S. COVID-19 death toll hits 700,000|publisher=Reuters|last1=Ahluwalia|first1=Shaina|last2=Priya M.|first2=Lasya|date=October 1, 2021|accessdate=October 1, 2021}} On October 18, the U.S. passed 45{{nbsp}}million cases.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/coronavirus-total-us-covid-19-cases-top-45-million-death-toll-surpasses-725000/QXGFH26CTFBRPBIRYPY3HUVMBY/|title=Coronavirus: Total US COVID-19 cases top 45 million as death toll surpasses 725,000|publisher=KIRO-TV|last=Dugan|first=Kelli|date=October 18, 2021|accessdate=October 23, 2021}} On November 26, Biden announced U.S. restrictions on travel from South Africa and seven other African countries due to concerns over a new variant from the area, called Omicron.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/politics/travel-restrictions-south-africa/index.html|title=Biden restricts travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting Monday|publisher=CNN|last=Collins|first=Kaitlan|date=November 26, 2021|accessdate=November 26, 2021}}

At the beginning of January 2022, the number of cases per day exceeded 1 million.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=NY Times COVID-19 Dataset |url=https://github.com/nytimes/covid-19-data |website=NY Times COVID-19 Data |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=March 19, 2021}} As of February 1, fatality rates were 63% higher in the U.S. than other large wealthy countries, due in part to far lower vaccination rates compared to those countries.{{#invoke:cite news||author1=Benjamin Mueller |author2=Eleanor Lutz |title=U.S. Has Far Higher Covid Death Rate Than Other Wealthy Countries |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/02/01/science/covid-deaths-united-states.html |access-date=March 22, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 2022}} On March 9, the Biden administration advised Congress of a lack of funding for testing, therapeutics and vaccines, but Republicans continued to block new spending on the pandemic so Democrats removed an emergency aid package from a proposed spending bill.{{#invoke:cite news||author1=Sheryl Gay Stolberg |author2=Madeleine Ngo |title=Uncertainty for Biden's Covid Plan After Aid Is Dropped From Spending Bill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/09/us/politics/biden-pandemic-response-funding.html |access-date=March 22, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=March 9, 2022}} On March 20, Fauci warned of an "uptick" in cases like Europe had seen recently, stating the U.S. should "be prepared for the possibility that we might get another variant".{{#invoke:cite news||author1=Christina Jewett |title=Fauci predicts an uptick in U.S. cases, saying it is not yet time to 'declare victory.' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/20/health/fauci-us-cases-ba2.html |access-date=March 22, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=March 20, 2022}}

In April 2022, it was reported by CNN that COVID-19 numbers reached pandemic lows across the US, resulting in many testing sites closing their doors. With testing sites seeing as low as single digits per day, Director of Public Health Services Division of the Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency in North Carolina Sarah Henderson suggested that she expected most counties to see closures soon, if they had not already. "We were seeing an excess of 100 patients at our testing site in the first few days [of January], which doesn't sound like a lot, but our community is very small", Henderson said. "The last couple of weeks, we have seen single digits every day. I certainly won't speak for other counties, but I think we're probably heading in that direction where if they're not closing down, they're decreasing hours and staff".{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/11/health/covid-testing-site-closures/index.html|title=With fewer cases and less demand, many COVID-19 testing sites are shutting down|publisher=CNN| date=April 11, 2022 }}

On April 18, the federal transportation mask mandate, which had been extended to May 3 by the Biden administration on the advice of the CDC, was ended nationwide by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Florida.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Legaspi |first1=Althea |title=Trump-Appointed Judge Deemed 'Not Qualified' by Bar Association Voids Mask Mandate on Planes, Other Travel |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kathryn-kimball-mizelle-trump-judge-voids-mask-mandate-1339427/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=April 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418213414/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/kathryn-kimball-mizelle-trump-judge-voids-mask-mandate-1339427/ |archive-date=April 18, 2022}} The Justice Department challenged the ruling several days later, yet masks remained optional on airplanes, buses, and subway systems, except when required by local mandates.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Cameron |first1=Michele |title=CDC Launches Appeal of Mask Mandate Decision |url=https://www.businesstravelerusa.com/business-traveler-usa-story/cdc-launches-appeal-of-mask-mandate-decision/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=Business Traveler USA |date=April 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507001152/https://www.businesstravelerusa.com/business-traveler-usa-story/cdc-launches-appeal-of-mask-mandate-decision/ |archive-date=May 7, 2022}}

The first annual National COVID Week of Remembrance & Action was held from April 24–30, with mayors and other political officials declaring the week of remembrance in their respective jurisdictions as part of a national movement led by a collection of COVID advocacy groups.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Salant |first1=Jonathan |title=N.J. families of COVID victims push Congress to prevent a repeat pandemic |url=https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2022/04/nj-families-of-covid-victims-push-congress-to-prevent-a-repeat-pandemic.html |access-date=May 7, 2022 |agency=NJ Advance Media |publisher=NJ.com |date=April 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507002119/https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2022/04/nj-families-of-covid-victims-push-congress-to-prevent-a-repeat-pandemic.html |archive-date=May 7, 2022}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Cantu Trevino |first1=Melissa |title=Families gather for National Week of COVID Remembrance |url=https://www.alicetx.com/2022/05/01/families-gather-for-national-week-of-covid-remembrance/ |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=Alice Echo-News Journal |date=May 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507002802/https://www.alicetx.com/2022/05/01/families-gather-for-national-week-of-covid-remembrance/ |archive-date=May 7, 2022}}

According to data compiled by NBC News, the U.S. death toll reached 1 million on May 4, the largest-recorded death toll in any single country, followed by Brazil, with about 660,000 deaths.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Chuck |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Siemaszko |first2=Corky |title=Covid's toll in the U.S. reaches a once unfathomable number: 1 million deaths |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covids-toll-us-reaches-1-million-deaths-unfathomable-number-rcna22105 |access-date=May 7, 2022 |publisher=NBC News |date=May 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504203852/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covids-toll-us-reaches-1-million-deaths-unfathomable-number-rcna22105 |archive-date=May 4, 2022}} The White House confirmed the 1 million mark with a presidential proclamation on May 12, ordering flags to be flown at half-staff at all federal facilities through sundown on May 16.{{#invoke:cite news||title=A Proclamation on Remembering the 1,000,000 Americans Lost to COVID-⁠19 |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/12/a-proclamation-on-remembering-the-1000000-americans-lost-to-covid-19/ |access-date=May 13, 2022 |publisher=White House Briefing Room |date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512135434/https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/05/12/a-proclamation-on-remembering-the-1000000-americans-lost-to-covid-19/ |archive-date=May 12, 2022}}

In June, the United States concluded the approval process for the vaccination of children under five years of age, with the first vaccines expected to be administered on June 21.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Tin |first1=Alexander |title=Here's when the White House says parents could start scheduling COVID vaccines for kids under 5 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-children-under-5-june-july-plan/ |access-date=June 10, 2022 |publisher=CBS News |date=June 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609123443/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-children-under-5-june-july-plan/ |archive-date=June 9, 2022}} On June 12, the U.S. dropped COVID testing requirements for inbound international air travelers, while vaccination requirements largely remained in place for inbound travelers using any mode of cross-border transportation.{{#invoke:cite news||title=Covid: US to drop test requirement for air travellers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61762137 |access-date=June 10, 2022 |publisher=BBC News |date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610192049/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61762137 |archive-date=June 10, 2022}}

The number of cases for the months of January through June was about 2.4 times the number for the same period in 2021, and the number of COVID-attributed deaths likewise averaged 0.74 times the number in 2021. Nonetheless, as of July 14, only 21 states had active COVID-19 emergency orders in place,{{#invoke:Cite web||title=State emergency health orders during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2021-2022 |url=https://ballotpedia.org/State_emergency_health_orders_during_the_coronavirus_(COVID-19)_pandemic,_2021-2022 |website=BallotPedia |access-date=July 14, 2022}} and there were no state-level mask requirements still in force.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=State-level mask requirements in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2022 |url=https://ballotpedia.org/State-level_mask_requirements_in_response_to_the_coronavirus_(COVID-19)_pandemic,_2020-2022 |website=BallotPedia |access-date=July 14, 2022}}

The number of cases for July and August was 3,672,358 and 3,154,320, respectively, with 11,963 and 15,943 COVID-attributed deaths, respectively. The totals for these two months reflect about 1.6 times the number of cases and 0.81 times the number of deaths from the same months in 2021.

On September 18, in an appearance on 60 Minutes, Biden declared his belief that the COVID-19 pandemic was "over" in the United States.{{#invoke:cite AV media ||title=President Joe Biden: The 2022 60 Minutes Interview |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1UC89H4Swc |access-date=September 21, 2022 |via=YouTube}}{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Liptak |first=Kate Sullivan, Jamie Gumbrecht, Allie Malloy, Kevin |date=September 18, 2022 |title=Biden: 'The pandemic is over' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/18/politics/biden-pandemic-60-minutes/index.html |access-date=September 20, 2022 |publisher=CNN}} This assessment met some debate in the medical community: at the time, the United States had roughly 400 deaths from the disease per day, and when extrapolated to 150,000 per year would be three times the fatality rate of a bad flu season.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/24/covid-not-over-biden-remarks-cbs-60-minutes |title=Biden's claim that Covid pandemic is over sparks debate among experts |last=Berger |first=Eric |date=September 24, 2022 |accessdate=September 24, 2022 |work=The Guardian }}

The number of cases for the months of July through September was about 0.86 times the number for the same period in 2021, and the number of COVID-attributed deaths likewise averaged 0.42 times the number for the same period in 2021.

In October, new variants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 from the dominant BA.5 appeared to be spreading quickly, but comprised only a small proportion of overall variants. Although variant XBB was of concern internationally, it was rare in the United States.{{#invoke:cite web||title=Monitoring Variants |url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/past-reports/10212022.html |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=October 21, 2022 |publisher=CDC |access-date=12 December 2022}} Recommendations for receiving vaccination booster shots were mixed: while populations at risk of severe disease and death should stay up-to-date, healthy, middle-aged-and-younger populations were rarely at risk of severe illness, and most have adequate immunity. Although the newest bivalent boosters target the recent BA.4 and BA.5 variants and their risks were low, some experts recommended new strategies to develop vaccines with broader effectiveness.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Mandavilli |first1=Apoorva |title=Will Covid Boosters Prevent Another Wave? Scientists Aren't So Sure. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/health/covid-boosters-surge.html |access-date=12 December 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=19 November 2022}}

In a survey of vaccination booster intake (after completing a primary series), about 15% reported receiving the updated booster. The rates varied racially with 19% among White, non-Hispanic people, about 11% among Hispanic people, and about 7% among non-Hispanic American Indians, Alaska Native people, Black people, and those of multiple races, leading to concerns of vaccination access inequity.{{#invoke:cite web||title=Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Equity |url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/past-reports/10282022.html |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=October 28, 2022 |publisher=CDC |access-date=12 December 2022}}

In the months leading up to November, deaths from COVID-19 substantially decreased, attributed to high levels of population immunity (through vaccination or prior infection), and improvements in early treatment for patients at risk for severe disease. The CDC recommended vaccinations, treatments for immunocompromised individuals and to reduce severity of the disease, and continuing to wear masks in public.{{#invoke:cite web||title=Update on COVID-19–Related Deaths |url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/past-reports/111822.html |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=November 18, 2022 |publisher=CDC |access-date=12 December 2022}} Nonetheless, Fauci stated that the Biden administration felt that there was "enough community protection that we're not going to see a repeat of what we saw last year at this time", referring to the emergence of the Omicron variant.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=LaFraniere |first1=Sharon |last2=Mueller |first2=Benjamin |title=A Year After the Omicron Surge, Officials See a Reduced Covid Threat This Winter |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/us/politics/fauci-covid-winter-surge.html |access-date=12 December 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=November 22, 2022 }}

A study of vaccine effectiveness found that U.S.-authorized bivalent mRNA boosters administered to those having already received 2 to 4 monovalent vaccinations provided significant additional protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2.{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Link-Gelles |first1=Ruth |author2=Allison Avrich Ciesla |author3=Katherine E. Fleming-Dutra |author4=Zachary R. Smith |author5=Amadea Britton |author6=Ryan E. Wiegand |author7=Joseph D. Miller |author8=Emma K. Accorsi |author9=Stephanie J. Schrag |author10=Jennifer R. Verani |author11=Nong Shang |author12=Gordana Derado |author13=Tamara Pilishvili |title=Effectiveness of Bivalent mRNA Vaccines in Preventing Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection — Increasing Community Access to Testing Program, United States, September–November 2022 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7148e1.htm |journal=MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |publisher=CDC |access-date=12 December 2022 |date=22 November 2022|volume=71 |issue=48 |pages=1526–1530 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm7148e1 |pmid=36454688 |pmc=9721148 }} Concerns of a surge in Beijing caused the Biden administration to require U.S. visitors from China, Hong Kong, and Macau to provide proof of COVID-19 negative test results.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Stolberg |first1=Sheryl Gay |last2=Mueller |first2=Benjamin |title=US to Require Negative Covid Tests for Travelers From China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/28/us/politics/covid-requirements-china-us-travel.html |access-date=6 January 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=28 December 2022}} At the end of the year, the CDC reported that the COVID Omicron XBB.1.5 variant became much more prevalent and represented about 41% of new cases in the U.S. Scientists at Columbia University warned that the rise of subvariants could "result in a surge of breakthrough infections as well as re-infections".{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Kimball |first1=Spencer |title=Highly immune evasive omicron XBB.1.5 variant is quickly becoming dominant in U.S. as it doubles weekly |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/30/covid-news-omicron-xbbpoint1point5-is-highly-immune-evasive-and-binds-better-to-cells.html |access-date=6 January 2023 |publisher=CNBC|date=30 December 2022}}

On January 11, the Biden administration decided to renew the COVID-19 public health emergency amid a winter surge of cases related to highly transmissible Omicron subvariants. With relief measures such as automatic Medicaid re-enrollment being decoupled from the emergency declaration, some commentators believed this signaled the final extension of the emergency declaration.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Klein |first1=Betsy |last2=Luhby |first2=Tami |title=Biden administration renews COVID-19 public health emergency |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/politics/covid-19-public-health-emergency/index.html |access-date=12 January 2023 |publisher=CNN|date=11 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112005820/https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/11/politics/covid-19-public-health-emergency/index.html |archive-date=January 12, 2023 |url-status=live }}

Although some states had already ended emergency SNAP benefits enacted during the pandemic, the USDA announced that emergency allotments for the remaining 32 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands would end after the February distribution. Leaders of some anti-hunger organizations believed that the end of the $95-per-month additional benefit would strain local food pantries and food banks.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Habeshian |first1=Sareen |title=SNAP benefits returning to pre-COVID amounts in February |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/01/28/covid-snap-benefits-end-february |access-date=29 January 2023 |publisher=Axios |date=28 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129002151/https://www.axios.com/2023/01/28/covid-snap-benefits-end-february |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |url-status=live }} South Carolina, which ended emergency food grants after the January distribution, and the 17 other states which terminated pandemic food supplements prior to the federal end date were all states with Republican-controlled state legislatures.{{#invoke:cite news||title=2022 State Senate Elections Map |url=https://www.270towin.com/2022-state-legislature-elections/state-senate |access-date=29 January 2023 |publisher=270 to Win |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202135800/https://www.270towin.com/2022-state-legislature-elections/state-senate |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |url-status=live }}

On January 31, Biden announced the end to the COVID-19 emergency declarations by May 11.{{#invoke:cite news||author=Staff Writer |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-end-covid-19-emergency-declarations-may-11-2023-01-30/ |title=U.S. to end COVID-19 emergency declarations on May 11 |publisher=Reuters |date=2023-01-31 |accessdate=2023-01-31 }} By February 23, eighteen states had already cut payments for more than 10 million people, and Congress had decided to end the program early, exchanging additional benefits for a new permanent program that provides extra money to low-income families to replace school meals during the summer.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=ALECCIA |first1=JONEL |title=US ending extra help for groceries that started during COVID |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-ending-extra-groceries-started-covid-97417243 |publisher=ABC News |date=February 23, 2023}}

On April 10, Biden signed into law a resolution terminating the national emergency, effective immediately.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Richards |first1=Zoë |title=Biden signs bill ending Covid national emergency |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-signs-bill-ending-covid-national-emergency-rcna79057 |access-date=April 11, 2023 |publisher=NBC News |date=April 10, 2023}}{{#invoke:cite web||title=Bill Signed: H.J.Res. 7 |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2023/04/10/bill-signed-h-j-res-7/ |website=The White House |publisher=whitehouse.gov |date=April 10, 2023 |access-date=April 10, 2023 |quote=On Monday, April 10, 2023, the President signed into law: H.J.Res. 7, which terminates the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.}} This national emergency was separate from the public health emergency, which remained in effect until May 11.

A late-summer wave of COVID-19 cases, as reflected by tests at pharmacies and healthcare settings, marked the first US surge of infections since the end of the public health emergency. Wastewater testing initially indicated that the uptick in cases was only a third the size of the previous summer's surge, yet data from Walgreens showed the first week of August having the largest number of positive cases since May 2021.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Goodman |first1=Brenda |last2=McPhillips |first2=Deidre |title=Your summer cold could be COVID-19, as the nation goes into a late summer wave |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/health/summer-cold-covid-19/index.html |access-date=29 July 2023 |publisher=CNN|date=28 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729080946/https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/health/summer-cold-covid-19/index.html |archive-date=29 July 2023 |language=en}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Lee |first1=Bruce Y. |title=Walgreens Shows Highest COVID-19 Test Positivity Levels Since May 2021 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/08/08/walgreens-shows-highest-covid-19-test-positivity-levels-since-may-2021/ |access-date=8 August 2023 |work=Forbes|date=8 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230809033121/https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/08/08/walgreens-shows-highest-covid-19-test-positivity-levels-since-may-2021/ |archive-date=9 August 2023}}

Hospitals across the United States reported a 24% rise in hospitalizations during the first two weeks of August and wastewater testing showed increased cases in the West and Northeast. With the pandemic legally declared over earlier in 2023, schools and workplaces responded to outbreaks differently, with many schools seeking to be more judicious about when to keep students home from school. The film studio Lionsgate, however, briefly reinstated a mask mandate following an outbreak, as did Morris Brown College, which also reinstated temperature checks and a restriction on large events for two weeks, at the beginning of the fall 2023 semester.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Bosman |first1=Julie |title=Not Over Yet: Late-Summer Covid Wave Brings Warning of More to Come |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/us/covid-cases-hospitalizations.html |access-date=28 August 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828092124/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/28/us/covid-cases-hospitalizations.html |archive-date=28 August 2023}} As more schools launched their fall semesters in late August and early September, high positivity rates among students and staff led to temporary in-person learning suspensions across three school districts in Texas and Tennessee, driven by district-level decisions rather than state authorities.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Lonas |first1=Lexi |last2=Choi |first2=Joseph |title=COVID-19 raises anxiety at start of new school year |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4181957-covid-19-raises-anxiety-at-start-of-new-school-year/ |access-date=5 September 2023 |work=The Hill |date=5 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905122456/https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4181957-covid-19-raises-anxiety-at-start-of-new-school-year/ |archive-date=5 September 2023}}

With hospitalizations in excess of 20,000 for the first time since the end of the public health emergency, the federal government restarted the national free COVID test delivery program on September 25, enabling the delivery of four free COVID-19 tests per mailing address at a time when many insurance providers had begun to drop coverage of COVID tests.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Tyko |first1=Kelly |title=Free COVID tests from government available again |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/09/25/free-covid-test-government-usps |access-date=25 September 2023 |publisher=Axios |date=25 September 2023}} The program, entering its fifth round of distributions with the fall 2023 initiative, was suspended in May to preserve supplies yet Health Secretary Xavier Becerra stated that the stockpile had been replenished and that the program would continue through the holiday season, and beyond, if cases continued to rise. Some of the newly mailed tests would show expired dates on their packaging but would remain valid for testing since the FDA had recently extended the expiration dates of a variety of tests.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Nazzaro |first1=Miranda |title=How to order free COVID test kits |url=https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4221337-how-to-order-free-covid-test-kits/ |access-date=25 September 2023 |work=The Hill |date=25 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925160839/https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4221337-how-to-order-free-covid-test-kits/ |archive-date=25 September 2023}}

Upon entering the first winter season of the post-pandemic period, some health facilities in California, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois began to reinstate mask mandates for staff and visitors, due to increased rates of infection amid what had become an annual winter milieu of COVID, flu, and RSV.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Brooks |first1=Brad |title=Mask mandates return at some US hospitals as COVID, flu jump |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mask-mandates-return-some-us-hospitals-covid-flu-jump-2024-01-04/ |access-date=4 January 2024 |publisher=Reuters |date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104075706/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mask-mandates-return-some-us-hospitals-covid-flu-jump-2024-01-04/ |archive-date=4 January 2024}} New York City Health and Hospitals resumed its mandate shortly after Christmas, with the additional goal of minimizing staffing shortages throughout the healthcare system.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Propper |first1=David |title=Mask mandates back at NYC hospitals as COVID and flu cases increase |url=https://nypost.com/2024/01/03/metro/mask-mandates-back-at-nyc-hospitals-as-covid-and-flu-cases-increase/ |access-date=4 January 2024 |publisher=New York Post |date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104080236/https://nypost.com/2024/01/03/metro/mask-mandates-back-at-nyc-hospitals-as-covid-and-flu-cases-increase/ |archive-date=4 January 2024}}

In January 2024, wastewater data showed that U.S. infections had reached their second-highest recorded level, surpassed only by the initial Omicron wave in January 2022.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Prater |first1=Erin |title=Highly mutated COVID variant 'Pirola' JN.1 is fueling the pandemic's second highest U.S. wave—and it's still growing |url=https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/05/us-reachest-second-highest-covid-peak-pirola-jn1-omicron-pi-rho/ |access-date=7 January 2024 |publisher=Fortune |date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106005656/https://fortune.com/well/2024/01/05/us-reachest-second-highest-covid-peak-pirola-jn1-omicron-pi-rho/ |archive-date=6 January 2024 |language=en}}

Due to a 38% rise in COVID-related hospitalizations in December, rapidly rising RSV infections, and similarly trending flu cases, the city of Saint Louis reinstated a mask mandate for city employees which would have started on January 5. Missouri's Republican governor, a staunch opponent of mask mandates, pressured the city to cancel the mandate less than 24 hours after it had been issued, with the city also revising its previous data on RSV and flu infections.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Huguelet |first1=Austin |title=St. Louis backs off mask mandate for city workers |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/st-louis-backs-off-mask-mandate-for-city-workers/article_2ad6440c-ac12-11ee-a571-8fc32d4f770e.html |access-date=8 January 2024 |publisher=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107122906/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/st-louis-backs-off-mask-mandate-for-city-workers/article_2ad6440c-ac12-11ee-a571-8fc32d4f770e.html |archive-date=7 January 2024 |language=en}}

Meanwhile, the New York City Fire Department instituted a more targeted municipal employee mandate on January 12, which required only firetruck and ambulance personnel to be masked, specifically while rendering pre-hospital patient care. This followed a renewed mask mandate which went into effect at all New York City Health + Hospitals on January 1.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Edelman |first1=Susan |title=FDNY orders all first-responders to mask up amid spike in contagious diseases |url=https://nypost.com/2024/01/13/metro/fdny-orders-all-first-responders-to-mask-up-amid-spike-in-contagious-diseases/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |publisher=New York Post |date=13 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240113203905/https://nypost.com/2024/01/13/metro/fdny-orders-all-first-responders-to-mask-up-amid-spike-in-contagious-diseases/ |archive-date=13 January 2024}}

On January 9, in a bid to avoid school and workplace disruptions amid the post-pandemic winter surge, California health officials shortened the recommended period of isolation to one day for infected individuals who exhibit only mild symptoms.{{#invoke:cite news ||last1=Palm |first1=Iman |title=California health officials shorten COVID isolation period to 1 day |url=https://ktla.com/news/california/california-health-officials-announce-shorter-covid-isolation-guidelines/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |publisher=KTLA |date=18 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119073413/https://ktla.com/news/california/california-health-officials-announce-shorter-covid-isolation-guidelines/ |archive-date=19 January 2024}} On March 1, the CDC followed suit and shortened its recommended isolation period to one day after being fever-free without the aid of medications, which was the same recommendation provided for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. The CDC still recommended enhanced precautions, such as wearing a mask and limiting close contact with others, for five days.{{cite news |last1=Mandavilli |first1=Apoorva |title=C.D.C. Shortens Isolation Period for People With Covid |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/health/covid-isolation-cdc.html |access-date=11 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=1 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240301203747/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/health/covid-isolation-cdc.html |archive-date=1 March 2024}}

In March 2025, under the second Trump administration, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated the termination of billions of dollars in funding allocated for COVID-19 research. The cuts affected a wide range of projects, including studies on vaccine development, long COVID, and pandemic preparedness. The decision raised concerns within the scientific community about the potential impact on ongoing research and the nation's readiness for future public health emergencies.{{cite news |last1=Kozlov |first1=Max |title=Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00954-y |access-date=14 April 2025 |publisher=Nature |date=26 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250413144700/https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00954-y |archive-date=13 April 2025}}

In April 2025, the Trump administration updated the federal government's main websites concerning COVID-19, including Covid.gov and Covidtests.gov, to emphasize the theory that the virus originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China. This update replaced previous information regarding the virus, such as how to order free COVID tests, with material attacking mask mandates, social distancing measures, the World Health Organization, and prominent pandemic-era figures such as Anthony Fauci and Andrew Cuomo, in addition to promulgating the lab leak theory.{{cite news |last1=Mueller |first1=Benjamin |title=On New Website, Trump Declares Lab Leak as 'True Origins' of Covid |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/science/trump-covid-website-lab-leak.html |access-date=21 April 2025 |work=New York Times |date=18 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250421071546/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/science/trump-covid-website-lab-leak.html |archive-date=21 April 2025 |language=en}}

{{see also|United States responses to the COVID-19 pandemic|U.S. federal government response to the COVID-19 pandemic|U.S. state and local government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 vaccination in the United States}}

On January 28, 2020, the CDC updated its China travel recommendations to level{{nbs}}3, its highest alert.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.foxnews.com/health/us-health-officials-on-coronavirus-outbreak |first=Madeline |last=Farber |title=China spurned CDC offer to send a team to help contain coronavirus: US Health Secretary |publisher=Fox News |date=January 28, 2020 }} On February 8, the WHO's director-general announced that a team of international experts had been assembled to travel to China and he hoped officials from the CDC would also be part of that mission.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/08/804130735/whos-tedros-china-has-agreed-to-allow-international-team-probe-coronavirus |last=Allyn |first=Bobby |title=China's Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses SARS Pandemic |publisher=NPR |date=February 8, 2020 |access-date=August 12, 2020 }}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/health/cdc-coronavirus-china.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207235005/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/health/cdc-coronavirus-china.html |archive-date=February 7, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=C.D.C. and W.H.O. Offers to Help China Have Been Ignored for Weeks |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 7, 2020 }} In January, Boeing announced a donation of 250,000 medical masks to help address China's supply shortages.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://komonews.com/news/local/boeing-donating-250000-medical-masks-to-battle-coronavirus-in-china |title=Boeing donating 250,000 medical masks to battle coronavirus in China |publisher=KOMO-TV |date=January 29, 2020 }} On February 7, the State Department said it had facilitated the transportation of nearly eighteen tons of medical supplies to China, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-announces-assistance-to-combat-the-novel-coronavirus/ |title=The United States Announces Assistance To Combat the Novel Coronavirus|publisher=U.S. Dept. of State |date=February 7, 2020 }} On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo announced a $100{{nbs}}million pledge to China and other countries to assist with their fights against the virus.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/482096-us-pledges-100-million-to-help-fight-coronavirus |title=US pledges $100 million to help fight coronavirus in China |last=Guzman |first=Joseph|date=February 7, 2020 |work=The Hill |access-date=April 11, 2020}}

Contact tracing was a tool to control transmission rates during the reopening process. Some states like Texas and Arizona opted to proceed with reopening without adequate contact tracing programs in place. Health experts have expressed concerns about training and hiring enough personnel to reduce transmission. Privacy concerns have prevented measures such as those imposed in South Korea where authorities used cellphone tracking and credit card details to locate and test thousands of nightclub patrons when new cases began emerging.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/29/contact-tracing-can-it-help-avoid-more-lockdowns/|title=Contact tracing may help avoid another lockdown. Can it work in the U.S.?|date=May 29, 2020}} Funding for contact tracing was thought to be insufficient, and even better-funded states have faced challenges getting in touch with contacts. Congress allocated $631{{nbs}}million for state and local health surveillance programs, but the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security estimated that $3.6{{nbs}}billion would be needed. The cost rose with the number of infections, and contact tracing was easier to implement when the infection count was lower. Health officials were also worried that low-income communities would fall further behind in contact tracing efforts which "may also be hobbled by long-standing distrust among minorities of public health officials".{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2020/06/15/the-health-202-u-s-isn-t-ready-for-the-contact-tracing-it-needs-to-stem-the-coronavirus/5ee6528b602ff12947e8c0d7/|title=Analysis | The Health 202: U.S. isn't ready for the contact tracing it needs to stem the coronavirus|first=Paige Winfield|last=Cunningham|date=June 15, 2020|newspaper=The Washington Post}} As of July 1, 2020, only four states were using contact tracing apps as part of their state-level strategies to control transmission. The apps document digital encounters between smartphones, automatically notifing the users if someone they had contact with had tested positive. Public health officials in California claimed that most of the functionality could be duplicated by using text, chat, email, and phone communications.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/07/01/coronavirus-users-weigh-benefits-of-growing-number-of-covid-19-contact-tracing-apps-with-data-privacy-concerns/ |title=New Contact Tracing Apps Need Access To Users' Private Data To Control Spread Of COVID-19 |date=July 1, 2020 |publisher=KPIX-TV |access-date=July 7, 2020 }}

Remdesivir was indicated for use in adults and adolescents (aged twelve years and older with body weight at least {{convert|40|kg|lb}}) for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Commissioner|first=Office of the|date=October 22, 2020|title=FDA Approves First Treatment for COVID-19|url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-treatment-covid-19|access-date=December 1, 2020|publisher=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)}} The FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the combination of baricitinib with remdesivir, for the treatment of suspected or laboratory confirmed COVID-19 in hospitalized people two years of age or older requiring supplemental oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).{{#invoke:Cite web||date=November 23, 2020|title=Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Drug Combination for Treatment of COVID-19|url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-drug-combination-treatment-covid-19|access-date=December 1, 2020|publisher=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)}} In early March, President Trump directed the FDA to test certain medications to discover if they had the potential to treat COVID-19 patients.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-expected-to-detail-new-virus-therapies-but-expansion-could-be-controversial-11584629965 |title=U.S. Moves to Expand Array of Drug Therapies Deployed Against Coronavirus |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 19, 2020 }} Among those were chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, which have been successfully used to treat malaria for over fifty years. A small test in France by researcher Didier Raoult had given positive results, although the study was criticized for design flaws, small sample size, and the fact that it was published before peer review.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Braun |first1=Elisa |title=In France, controversial doctor stirs coronavirus debate |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/30/in-france-controversial-doctor-stirs-coronavirus-debate-156889 |work=Politico |access-date=September 2, 2020 |date=March 30, 2020}} On March 28, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) which allowed certain hospitalized COVID-19 patients to be treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-daily-roundup-march-30-2020 |title= Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup March 30, 2020 |date=March 30, 2020 |access-date=September 2, 2020 |publisher=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)}}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/fda-announces-two-drugs-approved-for-compassionate-use-in-treating-covid-19|title=FDA Announces Two Drugs Given 'Compassionate Use' Status in Treating COVID-19|last=Koppock|first=Kristen|date=March 13, 2020|work=Pharmacy Times|access-date=April 25, 2020|archive-date=April 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403221307/https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/fda-announces-two-drugs-approved-for-compassionate-use-in-treating-covid-19|url-status=dead}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Wise |first1=Justin |title=FDA issues emergency-use authorization for anti-malaria drugs amid coronavirus outbreak |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/490110-fda-issues-emergency-use-authorization-for-anti-malaria-drugs-amid |access-date=March 30, 2020 |newspaper=The Hill |date=March 30, 2020}} On June 15, the FDA revoked the EUA for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential treatments for COVID-19, saying the available evidence showed "no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery".{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-cautions-against-use-hydroxychloroquine-or-chloroquine-covid-19-outside-hospital-setting-or|title=FDA cautions against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems|first=Center for Drug Evaluation and|last=Research|date=June 26, 2020|publisher=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)}} However, Trump continued to promote the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 through July.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-doubles-defense-hydroxychloroquine-treat-covid-19-efficacy/story?id=72039824 |title=Trump doubles down on defense of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 despite efficacy concerns |date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=September 2, 2020 |publisher=ABC News |last1=Gittleson |first1=Ben |last2=Phelps |first2=Jordyn |last3=Cathey |first3=Libby}}

From early 2020, more than 70 companies worldwide (with five or six operating primarily in the U.S.) began vaccine research.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-vaccine/art-20484859 |title=COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine: Get the facts |publisher=Mayo Clinic |date=April 22, 2020 }}{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-needs-to-win-the-coronavirus-vaccine-race-11587924258 |title=America Needs to Win the Coronavirus Vaccine Race |first=Scott |last=Gottlieb |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=April 26, 2020 }} In preparation for large-scale production, Congress set aside more than $3.5{{nbs}}billion for this purpose as part of the CARES Act.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/guide-to-the-cares-act |access-date=August 15, 2020 |title=Guide to the Cares Act |publisher=United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship }} On November 20, the Pfizer–BioNTech partnership submitted a request for emergency use authorization for its vaccine to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),{{#invoke:cite press release || title=Pfizer and BioNTech to Submit Emergency Use Authorization Request Today to the U.S. FDA for COVID-19 Vaccine | website=Pfizer | date=November 20, 2020 | url=https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-submit-emergency-use-authorization | access-date=November 20, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news|| last=Park | first=Alice | title=Exclusive: Pfizer CEO Discusses Submitting the First COVID-19 Vaccine Clearance Request to the FDA | magazine=Time | date=November 20, 2020 | url=https://time.com/5914139/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-fda-authorization/ | access-date=November 20, 2020 }} which was granted on December 11.{{citation-attribution|1={{#invoke:cite press release || title=FDA Takes Key Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID-19 Vaccine | publisher=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | date=December 11, 2020 | url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-key-action-fight-against-covid-19-issuing-emergency-use-authorization-first-covid-19 | access-date=December 11, 2020}} }}{{#invoke:cite journal ||vauthors=Oliver SE, Gargano JW, Marin M, Wallace M, Curran KG, Chamberland M, McClung N, Campos-Outcalt D, Morgan RL, Mbaeyi S, Romero JR, Talbot HK, Lee GM, Bell BP, Dooling K |title=The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' Interim Recommendation for Use of Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine – United States, December 2020 |journal=MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep |volume=69 |issue=50 |pages=1922–1924 |date=December 2020 |doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm6950e2 | pmc=7745957 |doi-access=free |pmid=33332292 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm6950e2-H.pdf }} On December 18, the FDA granted the Moderna vaccine emergency use authorization,{{citation-attribution|1={{#invoke:cite press release || title=FDA Takes Additional Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for Second COVID-19 Vaccine | website=US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) | url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-additional-action-fight-against-covid-19-issuing-emergency-use-authorization-second-covid | access-date=December 18, 2020}} }}{{#invoke:cite journal ||vauthors=Oliver SE, Gargano JW, Marin M, Wallace M, Curran KG, Chamberland M, McClung N, Campos-Outcalt D, Morgan RL, Mbaeyi S, Romero JR, Talbot HK, Lee GM, Bell BP, Dooling K | title=The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices' Interim Recommendation for Use of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine – United States, December 2020 | journal=MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | volume=69 | issue=5152 | date=December 2020 | pages=1653–1656 | doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm695152e1 | pmc=9191904 | s2cid=229945697 | url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/pdfs/mm695152e1-H.pdf | doi-access=free |pmid=33382675 }} which Moderna had requested on November 30.{{#invoke:cite news||date=November 30, 2020|title=Moderna Applies for Emergency F.D.A. Approval for Its Coronavirus Vaccine|website=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/health/covid-vaccine-moderna.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130120251/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/30/health/covid-vaccine-moderna.html |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=November 30, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite press release||title=Moderna Announces Primary Efficacy Analysis in Phase 3 COVE Study for Its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate and Filing Today with U.S. FDA for Emergency Use Authorization|website=Moderna, Inc.|date=November 30, 2020|url=https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-primary-efficacy-analysis-phase-3-cove-study|access-date=November 30, 2020|archive-date=November 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130120119/https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-primary-efficacy-analysis-phase-3-cove-study/|url-status=dead}} Starting on December 14, the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Pereira |first1=Ivan |title=US administers 1st doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-administer-1st-doses-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/story?id=74703018 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=March 6, 2021 |date=December 14, 2020}}

Polling showed a significant partisan divide regarding the outbreak.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.vox.com/2020/3/15/21180506/coronavirus-poll-democrats-republicans-trump|title=A new poll shows a startling partisan divide on the dangers of the coronavirus|first=Zeeshan|last=Aleem|date=March 15, 2020|work=Vox}} In February 2020, similar numbers of Democrats and Republicans believed COVID-19 was "a real threat": 70% and 72%, respectively. By mid-March 2020, 76% of Democrats viewed COVID-19 as "a real threat", while only 40% of Republicans agreed.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Allyn |first1=Bobby |last2=Sprunt |first2=Barbara |title=Poll: As Coronavirus Spreads, Fewer Americans See Pandemic As A Real Threat |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/17/816501871/poll-as-coronavirus-spreads-fewer-americans-see-pandemic-as-a-real-threat |access-date=March 25, 2020 |publisher=NPR |date=March 17, 2020}} In mid-March, various polls found Democrats were more likely than Republicans to believe "the worst was yet to come" (79–40%), to believe their lives would change in a major way due to the outbreak (56–26%),{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/sixty-percent-believe-worst-yet-come-u-s-coronavirus-pandemic-n1159106 |title=Sixty percent believe worst is yet to come for the U.S. in coronavirus pandemic; Public attitudes about the coronavirus response are split along partisan lines in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll |publisher=NBC News |first=Mark |last=Murray |date=March 15, 2020}} and to take certain precautions against the virus (83–53%). The CDC was the most trusted source of information about the outbreak (85%), followed by the WHO (77%), state and local government officials (70–71%), the news media (47%), and Trump (46%).{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://slate.com/business/2020/03/democrats-republicans-coronavirus-trump.html |title=Democrats Are Being Much, Much More Careful About the Coronavirus Than Republicans|first=Jordan|last=Weissmann|date=March 17, 2020|work=Slate}} A May 2020 poll concluded that 54% of people in the U.S. felt the federal government was doing a poor job in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in the country. 57% felt the federal government was not doing enough to address the limited availability of COVID-19 testing. 58% felt the federal government was not doing enough to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 cases later in 2020.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Agiesta |first1=Jennifer |title=CNN Poll: Negative ratings for government handling of coronavirus persist |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/cnn-poll-federal-government-handling-of-coronavirus/index.html |access-date=May 13, 2020 |publisher=CNN|date=May 12, 2020}} In September 2020, the Pew Research Center found that the global image of the United States had suffered in many foreign nations. In some nations, the United States' favorability rating had reached a record low since Pew began collecting this data nearly twenty years earlier. Across thirteen different nations, a median of fifteen percent of respondents rated the U.S. response to the pandemic positively.{{#invoke:Cite web||first1=Richard |last1=Wike |first2=Janell |last2=Fetterolf |first3=Mara |last3=Mordecai |title=U.S. Image Plummets Internationally as Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly |publisher=Pew Research Center |date=September 15, 2020 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/09/15/us-image-plummets-internationally-as-most-say-country-has-handled-coronavirus-badly/ |access-date=September 26, 2020}}

{{Main|Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 recession}}

File:The Anthem COVID-19 marquee.jpg

The pandemic, along with the resultant stock market crash and other impacts, led a recession in the United States following the economic cycle peak in February 2020.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.nber.org/cycles/june2020.html |title=Determination of the February 2020 Peak in US Economic Activity|date=June 8, 2020|publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research}} The economy contracted 4.8 percent from January through March 2020,{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Long |first1=Heather |title=U.S. economy shrank 4.8 percent in first quarter, the biggest decline since the Great Recession |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/29/gdp-coronavirus/ |access-date=April 29, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 29, 2020}} and the unemployment rate rose to 14.7 percent in April.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Long |first1=Heather |title=U.S. unemployment rate soars to 14.7 percent, the worst since the Depression era |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/08/april-2020-jobs-report/ |access-date=May 8, 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 8, 2020}} The total healthcare costs of treating the epidemic could be anywhere from $34{{nbs}}billion to $251{{nbs}}billion according to analysis presented by The New York Times.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Abelson |first1=Reed |title=Coronavirus May Add Billions to the Nation's Health Care Bill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/health/coronavirus-insurance-premium-increases.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328134009/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/28/health/coronavirus-insurance-premium-increases.html |archive-date=March 28, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=April 1, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=March 28, 2020}} A study by economists Austan Goolsbee and Chad Syverson indicated that most economic impact due to consumer behavior changes was prior to mandated lockdowns.{{#invoke:cite journal ||last1=Goolsbee |first1=Austan|title=Fear, Lockdown, and Diversion: Comparing Drivers of Pandemic Economic Decline 2020 |journal=Journal of Public Economics|year=2021|url=https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/2020-80/|access-date=June 23, 2020 |publisher=Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics |volume=193|page=104311|doi=10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104311|pmid=33262548 |pmc=7687454}} During the second quarter of 2020, the U.S. economy suffered its largest drop on record, with GDP falling at an annualized rate of 32.9 percent. As of June 2020, the U.S. economy was over ten percent smaller than it was in December 2019.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Tapee |first1=Annekan|title=US economy posts its worst drop on record |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/economy/us-economy-2020-second-quarter/index.html|access-date=August 19, 2020 |publisher=CNN |date=July 31, 2020}}

File:White_House_Press_Briefing_(49668784683).jpg brief the media on March 16, 2020. Fauci is seen as third from the left]]

In September, Bain & Company reported on the tumultuous changes in consumer behavior before and during the pandemic. Potentially permanently, they found acceleration towards e-commerce, online primary healthcare, livestreamed gym workouts, and moviegoing via subscription television. Concurrent searches for both low-cost and premium products, and a shift to safety over sustainability, occurred alongside rescinded bans and taxes on single-use plastics, and losses of three to seven years of gains in out-of-home foodservice.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.bain.com/insights/shaping-the-consumer-of-the-future/|title=Shaping the Consumer of the Future|date= September 23, 2020|vauthors= Faelli F, Rovit S, Apps C, Johns L|publisher=Bain & Company|access-date=October 3, 2020}} OpenTable estimated in May that 25 percent of American restaurants would close their doors permanently.{{#invoke:cite news||title=OpenTable forecasts 25% of U.S. restaurants to shutter permanently|url=https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-restaurants-opentable-99d477b8-55b8-40a0-885b-4eabc83e0f26.html|last=Rummler |first=Orion|date=May 14, 2020|access-date=October 4, 2020|publisher=Axios Media }}

The economic impact and mass unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic raised fears of a mass eviction crisis,{{#invoke:cite news||title=43 million Americans at risk of eviction as relief programs and moratorium expire: "It's a nightmare" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eviction-moratorium-expired-coronavirus/ |publisher=CBS News |date=July 31, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||title=32% of Americans had outstanding housing payments at the beginning of August |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/06/32-percent-of-americans-had-outstanding-housing-payments-at-beginning-of-august.html |publisher=CNBC |date=August 6, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||title='A Homeless Pandemic' Looms As 30 Million Are At Risk Of Eviction |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/900766719/millions-of-americans-are-in-danger-of-being-evicted-during-pandemic |publisher=NPR |date=August 10, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Ivanova |first=Irina |date=November 27, 2020 |title= Nearly 19 million Americans could lose their homes when eviction limits expire Dec. 31 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eviction-19-million-americans-risk-moratorium-coronavirus/ |publisher=CBS News |location= |access-date=December 7, 2020}} with an analysis by the Aspen Institute indicating 30–40 million were at risk for eviction by the end of 2020.{{#invoke:cite news||title=As Stimulus Talks Stalemate, New Report Finds 40 Million Americans Could Be At Risk Of Eviction |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2020/08/07/as-stimulus-talks-stalemate-new-report-finds-40-million-americans-could-be-at-risk-of-eviction/ |work=Forbes|date=August 7, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||title=Millions of Americans at risk of eviction after moratorium expired |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/millions-of-americans-at-risk-of-eviction-after-moratorium-expired |publisher=Fox Business |date=August 12, 2020}}{{update inline|date=August 2022}} According to a report by Yelp, about sixty percent of U.S. businesses that have closed since the start of the pandemic would stay shut permanently.{{#invoke:cite news||title=Yelp data shows 60% of business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic are now permanent |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html |publisher=CNBC |date=September 16, 2020}}{{Needs update|date=March 2025}}

The vast increase in the flow of federal funds to American citizens (via the CARES Act and related measures) resulted in a corresponding increase in benefits fraud, both from businesses and individuals.{{Cite web |last=Hughlett |first=Mike |date=2025-03-29 |title=As COVID spread, so did fraud. Minnesota saw a lot of it. |url=https://www.startribune.com/as-covid-spread-so-did-fraud-minnesota-saw-a-lot-of-it/601244557 |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=Minnesota Star Tribune |language=en}} In the largest individual case, Feeding Our Future, dozens of individuals conspired to receive nearly $250 million in USDA child nutrition funds while failing to actually provide meals to children. Nationwide, as of 2025, more than 4200 Americans had been federally charged with pandemic fraud, leading to more than 2400 convictions and $2 billion in recovered funds and forfeitures.

{{Main|Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States|Racial disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States}}

{{See also|Housing shortage}}

File:White House Coronavirus Update Briefing (49784743606).jpg

The pandemic had far-reaching consequences beyond the disease itself and efforts to contain it, including political, cultural, and social implications.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, there were reported incidents of xenophobia and racism against Asian Americans. During the first year, an ad-hoc organization called Stop AAPI Hate received 3,795 reports of racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.{{#invoke:Cite web||last=Fang|first=Marina|date=March 16, 2021|title=There Have Been Nearly 4,000 Incidents Of Anti-Asian Racism In The Last Year|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anti-asian-racism-covid-19_n_6050afe4c5b6ce1016422d47|access-date=March 16, 2021|website=HuffPost}}

Disproportionate numbers of cases have been observed among Black and Latino populations. Of four studies published in September 2020, three found clear disparities due to race and the fourth found slightly better survival rates for Hispanics and Blacks.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/09/studies-spotlight-covid-racial-health-disparities-similarities|title=Studies spotlight COVID racial health disparities, similarities|last=Van Beusekom|first=Mary|date=September 25, 2020|access-date=September 27, 2020|publisher=CIDRAP – Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota}} As of September 15, 2020, Blacks had COVID-19 mortality rates more than twice as high as the rate for Whites and Asians, who have the lowest rates.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=The color of coronavirus: COVID-19 deaths by race and ethnicity in the U.S.|url=https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race|access-date=September 28, 2020|publisher=APM Research Lab: American Public Media}} CNN reported in May 2020 that the Navajo Nation had the highest rate of infection in the United States.{{#invoke:cite news||title=Navajo Nation surpasses New York state for the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the US|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/18/us/navajo-nation-infection-rate-trnd/index.html|author1=Hollie Silverman |author2=Konstantin Toropin |author3=Sara Sidner |author4=Leslie Perrot|publisher=CNN|access-date=May 28, 2020}} In June 2021, the CDC confirmed these numbers, reporting that American Indian or Alaska Native, Non-Hispanic persons had the highest rates of both hospitalizations and deaths, while Hispanic and Latino persons suffered the highest rates of COVID compared to White persons. However, the CDC noted that only 61% of case reports included race and ethnicity data, which could result in inaccurate estimates of the relative risk among groups.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=Cases, Data, and Surveillance |url=https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html |website=U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |access-date=July 15, 2021 |date=February 11, 2020}} Additionally, a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2020 revealed that the effect of stress and weathering on minority groups decreases their stamina against COVID.{{#invoke:Cite journal||vauthors=Chowkwanyun M, Reed AL|date=July 2020|title=Racial Health Disparities and COVID-19 – Caution and Context|journal=New England Journal of Medicine|volume=383|issue=3|pages=201–3|doi=10.1056/NEJMp2012910|s2cid=218534431|issn=0028-4793|doi-access=free|title-link=doi|pmid=32374952 }}

From 2019 to 2020, in the United States, the life expectancy of a Hispanic American decreased three years, for an African American 2.9{{nbsp}}years, and for a White American 1.2{{nbsp}}years. The COVID Tracking Project{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://covidtracking.com/race|title=The COVID Racial Data Tracker|access-date=September 28, 2020|publisher=The COVID Tracking Project (The Atlantic Monthly Group)}} published data revealing that people of color were contracting and dying from COVID-19 at higher rates than Whites. An NPR analysis of April–September 2020 data from the COVID Tracking Project found that Black people's share of COVID-19 deaths across the United States was 1.5 times greater (in some states 2.5 times greater) than their share of the U.S. population. Similarly, Hispanics and Latinos were disproportionately infected in 45 states and had a disproportionate share of the deaths in 19 states. Native American and Alaskan Native cases and deaths were disproportionally high in at least 21 states and, in some, as much as five times more than average. White non-Hispanics died at a lower rate than their share of the population in 36 states and D.C.{{#invoke:cite news||title=As Pandemic Deaths Add Up, Racial Disparities Persist – And In Some Cases Worsen|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/23/914427907/as-pandemic-deaths-add-up-racial-disparities-persist-and-in-some-cases-worsen|last=Wood |first=Daniel|date=September 23, 2020|access-date=September 27, 2020|publisher=NPR }}

Life expectancy continued to fall from 2020 to 2021.{{#invoke:cite web||date=2022-12-20 |title=New Report Confirms U.S. Life Expectancy has Declined to Lowest Level Since 1996 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20221222.htm |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=cdc.gov |language=en-us}}

By April 2020, closed schools affected more than 55{{nbsp}}million students.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/map-coronavirus-and-school-closures.html|title=Map: Coronavirus and School Closures|website=Education Week|date=March 7, 2020|publisher=Editorial Projects in Education|access-date=April 23, 2020}} Higher education was also impacted in a variety of different ways.{{Cite web |title=Higher Education Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19) |url=https://www.ncsl.org/education/higher-education-responses-to-coronavirus-covid-19 |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=www.ncsl.org}}{{Cite journal |last1=Dutta |first1=Tapati |last2=Agley |first2=Jon |date=2024-03-18 |title=College leadership decisions and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: an elite interview study |journal=Journal of American College Health |volume=73 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=1576–1586 |doi=10.1080/07448481.2024.2328139 |issn=0744-8481|doi-access=free |pmid=38498604 }}

{{Update|part=section|date=March 2025|reason=All sources are from before the election}}{{Further|2020 United States presidential election|Postal voting in the 2020 United States elections|Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on politics#United States 3}}

The pandemic prompted calls from voting rights groups and some Democratic Party leaders to expand mail-in voting, while Republican leaders generally opposed the change. Some states were unable to agree on changes, resulting in lawsuits. Responding to Democratic proposals for nationwide mail-in voting as part of a COVID-19 relief law, Trump said "you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again" despite evidence the change would not favor any particular group.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Panetta|first=Grace|date=March 30, 2020|title=Trump baselessly claimed that expanding voting access would lead to a Republican never being elected in America again|website=Business Insider|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-falsely-claims-expanding-voting-access-would-hurt-republicans-2020-3}} Trump called mail-in voting "corrupt" and said voters should be required to show up in person, even though, as reporters pointed out, he had himself voted by mail in the last Florida primary.{{#invoke:cite news||url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/491674-trump-defends-his-mail-in-ballot-after-calling-vote-by-mail-corrupt|title=Trump defends his mail-in ballot after calling vote-by-mail 'corrupt'|work=The Hill|date=April 7, 2020|last=Samuels|first=Brett|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226202302/https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/491674-trump-defends-his-mail-in-ballot-after-calling-vote-by-mail-corrupt|archive-date=February 26, 2021|url-status=live}} Though mail-in vote fraud was slightly higher than in-person voter fraud, both instances were rare, and mail-in voting can be made more secure by disallowing third parties to collect ballots and providing free drop-off locations or prepaid postage.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Parks|first=Miles|date=April 7, 2020|title=Fact Check: Is Mail Ballot Fraud As Rampant As President Trump Says It Is?|publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/07/829323152/fact-check-is-mail-ballot-fraud-as-rampant-as-president-trump-says-it-is}}

High COVID-19 fatalities at the state and county level correlated with a drop in expressed support for the election of Republicans, including the reelection of Trump, according to a study published in Science Advances that compared opinions in January–February 2020 with opinions in June 2020.{{#invoke:Cite journal||vauthors=Warshaw C, Vavreck L, Baxter-King R|date=October 2020|title=Fatalities from COVID-19 are reducing Americans' support for Republicans at every level of federal office|journal=Science Advances|volume=6|issue=44|pages=eabd8564|doi=10.1126/sciadv.abd8564|pmid=33127688 |pmc=7608793|bibcode=2020SciA....6.8564W|issn=2375-2548}}

{{excerpt|2021 hospital crisis in the U.S. from COVID-19}}

{{Further|COVID-19 vaccination in the United States}}{{See also|COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States}}

The US map below is for the percent of people of all ages who received all doses prescribed by the initial COVID-19 vaccination protocol. Two of the three COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. require two shots to be fully vaccinated. The other vaccine requires only one shot. Booster doses were recommended too.[https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-people-onedose-percent-pop12 CDC COVID Data Tracker: Vaccinations in the US]. View: People. Show: Fully Vaccinated. Population: Total Population. Resulting map will be labeled: "Percent of People Fully Vaccinated Reported to the CDC by State/Territory and for Select Federal Entities for the Total Population". Hover or click on locations for more data.[https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-covid-19/vaccine-tracker U.S. COVID-19 vaccine tracker: See your state's progress]. From the Mayo Clinic. Hover on the states on the map at the source page for exact numbers for the fully vaccinated. Click on the "data sources" link in the first paragraph to see that the data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

File:US map. Percent of total population of all ages by state or territory who completed the COVID-19 vaccination primary series.png

{{Excerpt|only=paragraphs|COVID-19 vaccination in the United States}}

{{further|COVID-19 vaccination mandates in the United States|Biden Administration COVID-19 action plan}}

By August 2021, more than 800 colleges and universities, over 200 health care companies and dozens of states, local governments and school districts, had some type of vaccination requirements.[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/08/31/covid-vaccine-pandemic-louisiana-hospitals/5660300001/ "COVID vaccination progress: Only 1 in 5 say they won't get a jab; White House says pace of shots accelerating"]. USA Today. August 31, 2021. Biden appealed to public organizations and private companies to require employees to be vaccinated, which companies were nowlegally allowed to do.[https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-calls-private-companies-issue-vaccine-requirements-n1277470 "Biden calls on private companies to issue vaccine requirements"]. NBC News. August 23, 2021.{{Clarify|date=March 2025|reason=Was new legislation passed on that due to the pandemic? Is it still in effect?}}

Until August to September 2021, many companies were giving bonuses for getting vaccinated.[https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1027620914/to-mandate-or-not-employers-get-urgent-about-vaccinations "Employers Want You To Get Vaccinated. This One Is Offering A $1,000 Bonus."] NPR. August 17, 2021. Nonetheless, nearly 2,000 private hospitals and health systems had previously issued vaccine mandates. Many companies outside health care did the same, such as United Airlines, Tyson Foods, and Walmart among them. Washington state had already required vaccines for all state employees and contractors. With the new Delta variant spreading infections more quickly due to its higher transmissibility, companies including Facebook, Google, and Salesforce, have already issued employee vaccine mandates.{{#invoke:cite news|| last=Abril | first=Danielle | title=As delta variant spreads, some companies with vaccine mandates deploy tech to verify records | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=August 19, 2021 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/19/employers-vaccine-mandate-status-verification/ | access-date=October 16, 2021 }}

According to a USA Today poll from August 2021, 68% supported a business's right to refuse service to unvaccinated customers, and 62% supported employer's right to mandate vaccinations to its employees. In the same poll, 72% also felt that mandating masks was "a matter of health and safety" and should not be considered an infringement of personal liberty.[https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/08/23/most-americans-support-mask-and-vaccination-mandates-which-companies-will-follow-their-lead/ "Most Americans Now Support Mask And Vaccination Mandates. Which Companies Will Follow Their Lead?"]. Fortune. August 23, 2021.

File:202003- Cumulative county COVID-19 death rates - by share of votes for Donald Trump.svg

File:2021- COVID-19 death rates by vaccination status - US.svg

{{Excerpt|COVID-19 vaccine efficacy|Effectiveness}}

{{See also|Endemic phase of COVID-19}}

On February 17, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom announced a formal shift toward endemic management of COVID-19 in California, saying "we are moving past the crisis phase into a phase where we will work to live with this virus".{{#invoke:Cite web||author=The Associated Press |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/18/1081655623/california-adopts-nations-first-endemic-virus-policy |title=California adopts nation's first endemic virus policy |publisher=NPR|date=February 18, 2022 |accessdate=June 8, 2022}}

During his State of the Union Address on March 1, Biden stated that "because of the progress we've made, because of your resilience and the tools we have, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines". However, he also stated that the federal government would "never just accept living with COVID-19", explaining that it would "continue to combat the virus as we do other diseases". The White House released a new action plan the next day, which included plans to make COVID-19 antiviral medication available for free to high-risk patients at testing locations such as pharmacies and clinics, funding in support of vigilance and preparedness in the event of new surges and variants, preventing the closure of schools and businesses, and ensuring global vaccine distribution.{{#invoke:Cite web||title=Biden says Americans can 'remove their masks,' resume pre-Covid work, life routines |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-calls-americans-begin-resuming-pre-covid-work-life-routines-n1290526 |access-date=March 2, 2022 |website=NBC News |date=March 2, 2022 }}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Keith |first=Tamara |date=March 2, 2022 |title=The White House has a new plan for COVID-19 aimed at getting things back to normal |publisher=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/02/1083905865/the-white-house-has-a-new-plan-for-covid-19-aimed-at-getting-things-back-to-norm |access-date=March 2, 2022}}

On April 26, Fauci said that the United States was "out of the pandemic phase"{{#invoke:Cite web|| url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dr-fauci-on-why-the-u-s-is-out-of-the-pandemic-phase-2 | title=Dr. Fauci on why the U.S. Is 'out of the pandemic phase' | website=PBS NewsHour | date=April 26, 2022 }} and the following day, stated that "we're really in a transitional phase...into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity", but further clarified that "the world is still in a pandemic...we are still experiencing a pandemic" and the United States could still see new waves of infection. Fauci's comments followed a report from the CDC indicating that the United States had a much higher level of collective immunity at this time, due to the Omicron variant.{{#invoke:cite news||last=Achenbach |first=Joel |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/04/27/pandemic-phase-over-fauci-covid/ |title=Fauci says U.S. is out of coronavirus 'pandemic phase' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 27, 2022 |access-date=May 21, 2022}}

On May 16, Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Health stated that COVID-19 was now "an endemic disease" and said "we should expect moderate increases and decreases in our COVID-19 levels over the coming months".{{#invoke:Cite web|| url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/05/16/metro/covid-19-is-back-rhode-island-central-falls-health-strategist-warns/ | title='COVID-19 is back in Rhode Island,' Central Falls health strategist warns | website=The Boston Globe }} In an interview with 60 Minutes aired on September 18, Biden declared that the pandemic stage of COVID-19 was over in the United States.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-biden-60-minutes-interview-transcript-2022-09-18/ |title=President Joe Biden: The 2022 60 Minutes Interview |last=Pelley |first=Scott |date=September 18, 2022 |accessdate=September 19, 2022 |publisher=CBS News}}

{{Further|Pandemic predictions and preparations prior to the COVID-19 pandemic#United States}}

The United States has experienced pandemics and epidemics throughout its history, including the 1918 Spanish flu, the 1957 Asian flu, and the 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemics.{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Miguel |first1=Ken |title=Here's a look at some of history's worst pandemics that have killed millions |url=https://abc7news.com/5974174/ |access-date=March 22, 2020 |publisher=KGO-TV |date=February 28, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last1=Lileks |first1=James |title=How the news media played down the pandemics of yore, from Spanish flu to Swine flu |url=http://www.startribune.com/how-the-news-media-played-down-the-pandemics-of-yore-from-spanish-flu-to-swine-flu/568899732/?refresh=true |access-date=March 22, 2020 |work=Star Tribune |date=March 18, 2020}}{{#invoke:cite news||last=Brown |first=Jeremy |title=The Coronavirus Is No 1918 Pandemic |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/were-not-facing-second-spanish-flu/607354/ |access-date=March 22, 2020 |work=The Atlantic |date=March 3, 2020}} In the most recent pandemic prior to COVID-19, the 2009 swine flu pandemic took the lives of more than 12,000 Americans and hospitalized another 270,000 over the course of approximately a year.

According to the Global Health Security Index, an American-British assessment which ranks the health security capabilities in 195 countries, the U.S. was the "most prepared" nation in 2020.{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/02/these-are-the-countries-best-prepared-for-health-emergencies/ |title=These are the countries best prepared for health emergencies |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=February 12, 2020 }}{{#invoke:Cite web||url=https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/what-global-health-survey-found-months-coronavirus-pandemic |title=What a Global Health Survey Found Months Before the Coronavirus Pandemic |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |date=March 24, 2020 |first1=Lindsay |last1=Maizland |first2=Thamine |last2=Nayeem |first3=Anu |last3=Kumar}}

In September 2019, the Trump administration terminated United States Agency for International Development's PREDICT program, a $200 million epidemiological research program initiated in 2009 to provide early warning of pandemics abroad.{{cite web|first=Zachary|last=Cohen|date=April 10, 2020|access-date=July 10, 2020|title=Trump administration shuttered pandemic monitoring program, then scrambled to extend it|url=https://cnn.com/2020/04/10/politics/trump-usaid-prevent-program-coronavirus/|work=CNN}}{{cite web|last=McNeil|first=Donald G. Jr.|author-link=Donald McNeil Jr.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/health/predict-usaid-viruses.html|title=Scientists Were Hunting for the Next Ebola. Now the U.S. Has Cut Off Their Funding.|date=October 25, 2019|access-date=July 11, 2020|work=The New York Times}} The program trained scientists in sixty foreign laboratories to detect and respond to viruses that have the potential to cause pandemics. One such laboratory was the Wuhan lab that first identified the virus that causes COVID-19. After revival in April 2020, the program was given two 6-month extensions to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries.{{cite web|last1=Baumgaertner|first1=Emily|last2=Rainey|first2=James|date=April 2, 2020|title=Trump administration ended pandemic early-warning program to detect coronaviruses|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-trump-pandemic-program-viruses-detection|access-date=May 30, 2020}}{{cite web|title=U.S. Will Revive Global Virus-Hunting Effort Ended Last Year|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/health/predict-pandemic-usaid.html|last1=McNeil|first1=Donald G. Jr.|author-link1=Donald McNeil Jr.|last2=Kaplan|first2=Thomas|work=The New York Times|date=August 30, 2020|access-date=October 21, 2020}}

{{Excerpt|only=paragraphs|paragraphs=1-2|Statistics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States}}

• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory
• COVID-19 pandemic in North America
• Misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic
• United States House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis

• {{#invoke:cite book ||author1=The Covid Crisis Group |title=Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report |date=25 April 2023 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-5417-0380-3 |url=https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/covid-crisis-group/lessons-from-the-covid-war/9781541703803/ |language=en |quote=Contributors: Danielle Allen • John M. Barry • John Bridgeland • Michael Callahan • Nicholas A. Christakis • Doug Criscitello • Charity Dean • Victor Dzau • Gary Edson • Ezekiel Emanuel • Ruth Faden • Baruch Fischhoff • Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg • Melissa Harvey • Richard Hatchett • David Heymann • Kendall Hoyt • Andrew Kilianski • James Lawler • Alexander J. Lazar • James Le Duc • Marc Lipsitch • Anup Malani • Monique K. Mansoura • Mark McClellan • Carter Mecher • Michael Osterholm • David A. Relman • Robert Rodriguez • Carl Schramm • Emily Silverman • Kristin Urquiza • Rajeev Venkayya • Philip Zelikow}}
• {{#invoke:cite news||author1=Washington Post Live |date=April 25, 2023 |title=Transcript: Global Health: Lessons from the Pandemic with Philip Zelikow and Charity Dean |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2023/04/25/transcript-global-health-lessons-pandemic-with-philip-zelikow-charity-dean/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |quote=Dan Diamond; Charity Dean; Philip Zelikow;}}
• {{#invoke:cite news||author1=Washington Post Live |title=Audio: Lessons learned from U.S. COVID-19 response |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2023/04/25/lessons-learned-us-covid-19-response/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 25, 2023 |quote=Dan Diamond; Charity Dean; Philip Zelikow;}}
• {{#invoke:cite web||author1=Washington Post Live |title=Video: Lessons learned from U.S. COVID-19 response |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK2rvzg01Ao |website=YouTube |access-date=26 April 2023 |language=en |date=April 25, 2023 |quote=Dan Diamond; Charity Dean; Philip Zelikow;}}
• {{#invoke:cite news||last1=Diamond |first1=Dan |title=Review {{!}} Experts trace flawed U.S. covid response and how to fix it |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/04/25/lessons-covid-war/ |access-date=26 April 2023 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 25, 2023}}

{{Commons}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Scholia|topic}}

• [https://covid-19-therapeutics-locator-dhhs.hub.arcgis.com/ COVID-19 Therapeutics Locator] at Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.
• [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html COVID-19] at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• [https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html United States COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Laboratory Testing (NAATs) by State, Territory, and Jurisdiction] at CDC.
• [https://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus-2020.html Newsroom] at CDC.
• [https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/healthdirectories/healthdepartments.html State & Territorial Health Department Websites] at CDC.
• [https://covidtracking.com/data The Covid Tracking Project].
• [https://www.c-span.org/coronavirus/ Coverage of federal response]. C-SPAN.
• [https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/ Covid Historical data] at Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.
• [https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Mythbusters] at World Health Organization (WHO).
• [[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html Covid in the U.S.: Latest Maps, Case and Death Counts - The New York Times] Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count] The New York Times.
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/businesses-foot-traffic-coronavirus-reopening-us/ "As states start to reopen, here's where people are going"]. The Washington Post. May 29, 2020.
• [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-spread.html "How the Virus Won"]. The New York Times. June 24, 2020.
• v:COVID-19/All-cause deaths/United States

{{COVID-19 pandemic in the United States}}

{{#invoke:COVID-19 pandemic||locations}}

{{World topic|COVID-19 pandemic in}}

{{North America topic|COVID-19 pandemic in}}

{{#invoke:Portal bar|main|COVID-19|Medicine|United States|Viruses}}

Category:2020 in the United States

Category:2021 in the United States

Category:2022 in the United States

Category:2023 in the United States

Category:2020s disasters in the United States

United States

Category:First presidency of Donald Trump

Category:Presidency of Joe Biden

Category:Articles containing video clips

Category:2020 disasters in the United States

Category:2021 disasters in the United States

Category:2022 disasters in the United States

Category:2023 disasters in the United States