
COVID-19 is still a global pandemic. Around the world, as of 5:40pm CEST, 20 June 2022, there have been 536,590,224 cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,316,655 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization. As of 16 June 2022, a total of 11,902,271,619 vaccine doses have been administered. The adoption of vaccines worldwide continues to increase, yet periodic spikes and surges in infection rates continue to occur with new SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as that observed in Australia over the past few months. Vaccine booster doses provide effective protection against developing severe disease and hospitalization, but vaccine adoption and distribution face ongoing challenges in low- and middle-income (LMIC) countries (1). Therapeutic interventions for those already infected are in development, with one (Paxlovid) currently available under emergency use authorization (EUA) in the US.

Cumulative COVID-19 statistics by country: WHO COVID-19 Dashboard. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2020. Available online: https://covid19.who.int/ (last cited: June 20, 2022).
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