Public health experts have recorded the sky-rocketing numbers of COVID-19 cases. With the destructive mix of back to school colds and unpredictable uprisings of COVID, Americans are being terribly affected by these conditions. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci is an important figure in the medicine and health of the American people. Formerly, Fauci served as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. During 2020-2022, the fate of America laid within the nitrile gloved hands of Fauci. Media and news followed his insightful directions of getting vaccinated, quarantine and boosters. Now in 2023 the public is considering Fauci’s instructions again. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced a new booster for all Americans, even though COVID-19 was announced finished by the World Health Organization. Sophomore Siena Miller has been infected by COVID twice. Appropriately, Miller has been vaccinated and kept updated on the boosters. Miller explains, “Two weeks ago, I got really sick. I had a fever for three days. I didn’t get tested for COVID. I just stayed home everyday because I had a fever. Unfortunately, I got really behind on my schoolwork. I think it was normal school stuff, because everyone gets sick at the beginning of school. All of my family got sick as well.” Sickness can strike a student’s life and put their growth on hold, even if it is a common cold. “We went to California to visit my family. When we came back home, we found out that my great grandma had COVID. It started to get severe, considering she’s 96. She was transferred to the ICU and then developed pneumonia. She’s still hospitalized,” adds Miller. Recent data has shown that this booster provides more protection against the circulating variants and fatality of the disease. People are suffering from the loss of loved ones and randomness of COVID-19. Miller concludes, “It’s scary that COVID is still out there. In the past year we have forgotten the threat of it and how it can affect individuals.”