We are in the midst of one of the most important and disastrous times in the world. When we started to hear about COVID-19 in early 2020, we thought it would be confined to China. We soon saw it spread throughout other countries, including the United States. In March, Colorado had its first registered case, and by mid-month, the federal and Colorado governments shut down businesses, including restaurants, offices, schools, and more. Top government officials gave conflicting predictions as to when it would be over with and how big the effect on our health and economy would be, and what precautions should be taken. While many looked to spring 2020 for it to end, and others to the end of summer, we eventually found it instead got far worse during the fall. All spring and summer it was mainly at 300 to 500 cases. In November, most days had 5,000+ cases a day. As of March 1, the figures were averaging 1,200 cases a day.
Hope rose in the winter with the emergency approval of three vaccines. On December 14 the first vaccine was administered. As of March 1, the United States is averaging two million vaccine doses administered per day. In January 2021, a new Administration in Washington, D.C. took assertive action to get people to wear masks and to distribute vaccinations. In March, we find the numbers of cases and deaths have dropped rapidly to the level seen early last fall, and now plateauing. The current goal is to have enough vaccines for everyone by the end of May, who want it, and herd immunity being reached.