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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: COVID – 1 MILLION DEATHS (TV)
HEADLINE: The United States Marks 1 Million Deaths From COVID-19
TEASER: While the world crosses the grim milestone of 15 million deaths from COVID-19, the United States marks 1 million deaths due to the pandemic
PUBLISHED AT: 05/06/2022 at 815pm
BYLINE: LAUREL BOWMAN
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
VIDEOGRAPHER:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, MPage
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, TEAMS
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:10
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE:))
((WEB/TV INTRO))
[[As the world this week crossed the gruesome milestone of more than 15 million COVID-19 deaths, including over a million in the United States, U.S. researchers are looking back over the past two years ... marking who died here, where and why. VOA's Laurel Bowman has our story.]]
((NARRATOR))
The Guzman family suffered early in the COVID-19 pandemic. September 2020 brought breathtaking loss.
((Katherine Guzman, Parents Died of COVID-19))
“My name is Katherine Guzman. This is my sister Jennifer Guzman, and we lost our mother and her husband to COVID-19. But we gained two little angels who my mom adopted, and we want to continue to raise them together as a team.”
((NARRATOR))
Her parents add to the grim statistic that the U.S. has just crossed: one million deaths due to COVID-19.
Health researchers in the U.S. are looking back over the past two years, analyzing data on who died, where and why. They say minorities were hit hard, including younger people whose jobs had them out in the public before much of the population was vaccinated.
((For radio only: Dr. Ali Mokdad is an epidemiologist and the Chief Strategy Officer for Population Health at the University of Washington))
((Ali Mokdad, University of Washington))
“They kept our country running quite honestly, they kept food on our table and they paid a heavy price for it. We as a country failed to protect our essential workers and minorities were more likely to be essential workers.”
((NARRATOR))
In the early days of COVID-19 in the United States, people were dying in urban centers, then the virus spread to more rural areas.
There was no national response to COVID-19 in the early days. This, combined with misinformation about vaccines, kept many from getting the shot. But medical experts insist that vaccine fears were unfounded.
((For radio only: Dr. Georges Benjamin is the Executive Director of the American Public Health Association))
((Dr. Georges Benjamin, American Public Health Association))
“While we did these studies in record time, we produced a vaccine in record time, it was built on 20 years at least of good science of the investment in science and study. So we were able to create a vaccine relatively quickly “And because people were not adequately communicated that message people thought that corners were cut but no corners were cut.”
((NARRATOR))
Other experts say that local health departments across the country were ill-prepared for a pandemic.
((For radio only: Dr. Tom Frieden is the President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, which aims to make the world safer from pandemics))
((Dr. Tom Frieden, Resolve to Save Lives))
“There is no question that we are reaping the harvest of decades of underinvestment in public health at national, state, city and local levels in the U.S. as well as globally.”
((NARRATOR))
Globally, more than 15 million people have died of COVID-19.
Many experts say we are through the worst of the pandemic in the United States.
((For radio only: David Dowdy is an epidemiology professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health))
((David Dowdy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health))
“I think it’s important for people to realize that especially if you have been vaccinated, COVID-19 is in most cases a mild disease//(NAT SOUND UP 'no more shots')// but we still have a large fraction of our population that is unvaccinated.”
((NARRATOR))
Between 60 and 70 percent of the U.S. population has been vaccinated for COVID-19, and a similar number has been infected, giving them some immunity. But experts say that as the virus evolves and mutates, ongoing boosters may be necessary moving ahead.
((Laurel Bowman, VOA News, Washington))
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateMay 6, 2022 20:48 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
