Seattle City Wire

Since COVID-19 began to assert itself into the national consciousness and make profound changes in how we live, NPR's "Seattle Now" has established a rapport with University of Washington epidemiologist Judith Malmgren.

The pandemic is now over a year old in America, and host Patricia Murphy invited Malmgren on the show for a pandemic reality check. Murphy said over 1 million in Washington have been vaccinated, and new cases of COVID-19 are finally going down.

“We are far from where we need to be, and complacency can't be part of the mix,” Murphy said on NPR.

Professor Judith Malmgren | University of Washington

Malmgren pointed out there are still some reasons to be concerned. Until those issues are resolved, she is not ready to celebrate. “We still have the same distribution of cases in kids and young adults; that has not changed,” she said on the radio show. “The numbers are going down; that’s nice. People are getting vaccinated; that’s nice.”

The thing Malmgren said that keeps her from becoming euphoric is the possibility of continuing to wear masks. The fact the vaccine rollout has not been smooth is also a factor.

“I know there's going to be more (cases) in the future,” she told Murphy. “I know it is a mess right now, and that's being polite. And I'm being PC by saying it’s mess. It’s just so hard for so many people.”

In addition to talking about the logistics for vaccinations, Malmgren was asked to comment on a possible fourth wave of the virus. Malmgren admitted there is a possibility of a fourth wave, but said there are a number of things in place to help prevent another outbreak.

“There is always a potential for a fourth wave,” Malmgren said on NPR. “However, I think one of the best things now is that we have our first responders vaccinated. That’s a really good thing. Then they vaccinated the nursing homes and that's going to bring the death rate down. Then those 65 and older are pretty much getting their vaccines as quickly as possible. Because what we're doing now is we're vaccinating against morbidity and mortality. We are not vaccinating against spread. We won't be vaccinating against spread until probably May or June when young people will be vaccinated."

Malmgren she could see a scenario where proof of vaccination is required in schools in the future, and she insinuated that peer pressure would provide for widespread vaccinations.

“In the back of everybody’s mind, you know there is a fear of getting COVID and getting sick,” Malmgren told Murphy.