The U.S. could be through the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic by July — if vaccinations continue at high rates and people wear masks and physically distance when necessary, according to projections published Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The projections are not definitive — and can certainly change if people's behavior changes in the next few months. However, they do fall in line with President Joe Biden's assertion that the United States will be able to reach some level of "normal" by Independence Day.
"A sharp decline in cases was projected by July 2021," the study authors wrote, "with a faster decline in the high-vaccination scenarios."
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the models suggest "an even faster decline if more people get vaccinated sooner."
"The results remind us that we have a path out of this and models, once predicting grim news, now offer reasons to be quite hopeful for what the summer may bring," Walensky said during a briefing Wednesday.