Are Americans too complacent about a winter surge of COVID infections — and deaths?

Are Americans too complacent about a winter surge of COVID infections — and deaths?

To the old saying about the inevitability of death and taxes, we should add another: another health crisis linked to COVID-19. As of the end of October, the CDC’s official tally of U.S. COVID infections was just under 100 million, but with many positive home test results unreported, the real number is estimated to be several times greater.

Infections, while unfortunate and sometimes deadly, do provide immunity to survivors, but only for a limited time. Natural post-infection and vaccine-induced immunity wane over a period of months, so that a large fraction of the U.S. population remains potentially susceptible to infection.