A new projection model from the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations has predicted what’s to come in the coronavirus pandemic.
Per CNN, the model predicts that 618,523 people will die from the novel coronavirus by Aug. 1.
- However, if 95% of Americans wore masks when they’re around other people, the number would drop down to 604,413 deaths.
- That suggests wearing masks would save close to 14,000 lives.
How fully-vaccinated impact COVID-19 numbers
The projection said the number of deaths would jump up to 697,573 if “fully vaccinated people return to pre-pandemic levels of mobility,” according to CNN.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the country’s top infectious disease experts, told Business Insider that vaccines aren’t perfect, and fully vaccinated people should still wear masks and follow public health guidelines.
- “I don’t think I would — even if I’m vaccinated — go into an indoor, crowded place where people aren’t wearing masks,” Fauci told Business Insider.
Dr. Todd Vento, an Intermountain Healthcare infectious diseases doctor, told the Deseret News in March that vaccinations don’t matter. We’re still in a pandemic and people should act as such.
- “You should continue to say, ‘If I’m out in public, I should probably be careful,’” he said.
- “I know we’ve changed a lot, like we’ve accepted a lot more tolerance because folks want to get back to work and want to have normal. The reality that is in front of us is the reality we have to address, not the reality we want it to be. We have to work toward that reality,” he said.