Yes, COVID-19 Is Still a Big Deal. Pharmacy Is the Tip of the Spear (and Needle)

2026 Was Better Than 2025, Which Was Better Than 2024, Which Was Better Than 2023

The University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy has calculated that COVID-19 was associated with an estimated 290,000 to 450,000 hospitalizations and 34,000 to 53,000 deaths between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025. Interestingly, its largest spike was in August 2024, corresponding with the typical fall infection spread but earlier than the typical influenza peaks. Data from 2025-2026 reported thus far indicate fewer deaths associated with COVID-19 and deaths nearly exclusively among frail, older, and immunocompromised populations.¹

Deaths Are Down, But Acute Sickness Remains and Is Expensive and Time-Consuming

COVID-19 is still highly contagious; it still causes sickness, missed work, ruined vacations, and heightened risk for vulnerable groups. Influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, pneumonia, and COVID-19 are all serious health conditions that cause suffering and impose costs on the health care system and beyond. It simply makes sense to continue to mitigate through vaccinations and to attempt to resolve through a course of therapy (if warranted).

Long COVID: An Ongoing Concern

Keep in mind that we are very early into understanding long COVID, which remains idiosyncratic as to who it afflicts, how it afflicts, and what treatments (if any) become safe and effective gold standards of care. A 2024 analysis found that 1 in 10 adults who contract COVID-19 end up with long COVID of some type, form, and duration.² At the time of the report, long COVID affected 7% of the US population and posed a significant burden to those individuals, their households, their workplaces, and communities.²

The Danger of Letting the Foot off the Gas

With the headliner statistic of mortality falling each year, there will be a continued tendency to dismiss COVID-19 as past, mild, and unimportant, but it remains a significant producer of morbidity and is now one of the leading causes of long-term distress, disability, and disease for some. We have safe and effective tools at our disposal to mitigate COVID-19. With pharmacies now administering more than 90% of all adult vaccinations and nearing a plurality for many seasonal vaccines in some younger age groups, pharmacies and their staff play a significant and substantial—perhaps even primary—role in population health for COVID-19 and other seasonal infections.

REFERENCES

1. Szabo L. Up to 56,000 people died from COVID-19 or RSV last year. University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. March 3, 2026. Accessed July 23, 2026. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/56000-people-died-covid-19-or-rsv-last-year

2. Long COVID rates appear to be stabilizing, affecting about 1 in 10 adults who have had COVID. KFF. April 9, 2024. Accessed July 23, 2026. https://www.kff.org/covid-19/long-covid-rates-appear-to-be-stabilizing-affecting-about-1-in-10-adults-who-have-had-covid/