The Covid tragedy continues to unfold, with nations declaring victory against a virus whose death toll is only rebounding.

(Originally published Nov. 2 in “What in the World“) The official tally of people killed by Covid-19 has just surpassed five million, a grim watershed that clearly undercounts the actual number of those who’ve fallen victim to the virus. The saddest part is that, unlike cancer and heart disease (which rely on genetics and individual behavior), Covid a disease the relies on our collective actions and would therefore be completely preventable if only humankind had the collective willpower to stop its spread.

It probably bodes ill then that the latest resurgence of infections appears to be less intense than the April-July surge. Suffering from pandemic fatigue, most people will likely misinterpret a lower rate of increase as a decline in danger and therefore lower their precautions against contact with groups of people.

But the danger posed by Covid is rising, and we’re still a long way from being able to say the pandemic is under control. It’s still raging in Eastern Europe. The global death toll is also rebounding.

The good news is that the United States, until recently one of the world’s biggest unwitting allies of the virus, will soon issue rules requiring vaccine mandates at its biggest companies. U.S. President Joe Biden will reportedly clarify the requirements he outlined in September mandating vaccines for workers at all U.S. companies employing more than 100 people. This comes on top of an accelerating rollout of vaccines to American children, which will start closing one of the most dangerous gaps in global efforts to control transmission of the virus.

The U.S. clearly needs to redouble efforts to control Covid, as the encouraging decline in its infection rate appears to be bottoming out.

With 65% of the world still unvaccinated and therefore still susceptible to infection, it’s still far to early to predict an end to the pandemic. But it is so tempting to hope that the current surge might at least plateau this month—if, that is, the spate of reduced travel restrictions don’t fuel an increase.

If we dare for a moment to look beyond the pandemic, there’s a lot to hope for in applying the technology behind mRNA-based vaccines to other, longer-standing, diseases. Already, scientists are applying mRNA solutions to cancer, HIV, malaria and our old trusty friend, the flu. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could go back to worrying about them again?