This edition reexamines COVID case, death, and vaccination trends in the wake of the new (potentially more contagious) Omicron variant. Cases and deaths in 2021 have already eclipsed 2020 figures. More than 28 million cases have been reported in 2021 – about 40% higher than in 2020. Nearly 408,000 deaths have been reported so far throughout 2021 – well above the nearly 360,000 reported in 2020.

November 2021 was the 6^th worst month for cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and the 11^th worst for deaths. Some good news is that the case fatality rate (deaths/cases) is lower this year – a testament to vaccines and medical treatments.

As for weekly trends, COVID cases are oscillating after a steady descent throughout the fall of 2021. Cases have risen by one-third throughout November from roughly 70,000 new cases per day (7-day average) at the beginning of the month to about 90,000 new daily cases as of this week. Case reports are also likely suppressed this week due to the Thanksgiving weekend. The downward trend for new daily deaths since mid-September has continued. About 720 deaths are being reported per day (7-day average) – which is about half of the rate we were experience as of mid-September 2021. Recent case and death growths are largely being driven by states in the Upper Midwest and West – states which also have the lowest vaccination rates. We also plot vaccination rates vs recent COVID per capita deaths, and find that counties with higher rates of vaccinations are correlated with lower recent deaths due to COVID.