People take part in a rally against Asian hate at Columbus Park in Manhattan Chinatown in March. (EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZS / AP)

While visiting a Pfizer vaccine-manufacturing plant in Michigan in February, US President Joe Biden predicted a return to normal from the pandemic by the end of the year. "God willing, this Christmas will be different than the last," he said.

As the year draws to a close, with COVID-19 booster shots approved and vaccines for children authorized, the US is averaging more than 121,000 new cases and over 1,200 deaths a day, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As the pandemic approaches the end of a second year, it has reached another grim milestone－having killed more than 800,000 people in the US, surpassing the death toll from the 1918 flu pandemic despite medical advances of the past century.

Some people's hesitancy has turned into hostility against inoculation, leading the government's vaccination campaign to hit a wall, missing President Joe Biden's goal of delivering at least one shot to 70 percent of US adults by July 4

With the Delta and Omicron variants spreading, infection rates are increasing across the country, particularly in parts of the Northeast, Midwest and South. On Dec 16, New York state saw its highest number of new cases in a single day of the entire pandemic, topping just over 21,000.

The emergence of the new Omicron variant has forced the country to tighten international travel restrictions, which the government had lifted a month earlier, adding further uncertainty and exasperation.

The summer surge caused by the Delta variant killed 3,418 people on Sept 16, one of the highest daily totals since the pandemic began. Most of the infected were unvaccinated.

Some people's hesitancy has turned into hostility against inoculation, leading the government's vaccination campaign to hit a wall, missing Biden's goal of delivering at least one shot to 70 percent of US adults by July 4.

As of the middle of this month, 61.5 percent of the population had been fully vaccinated and 72.6 percent had received at least one dose, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Patients wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot at a mobile vaccination station on 59th Street below Central Park on Dec 2, 2021, in New York. (JOHN MINCHILLO / AP)

Vaccination mandates at federal and local levels have resulted in a string of lawsuits. On Dec 16, a federal appeals court reinstated a Biden administration rule requiring private employers of 100 or more workers to impose companywide immunization. That ruling is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

The move came a day after the administration asked the court to reinstate another mandate that applies to healthcare workers. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction last month to halt that.

Since COVID-19 vaccines were introduced, 14 percent of people in the US said they would never get a shot. They claimed religious or health exemptions, cited mistrust of the government, or opposed "authoritarian controls"

In Illinois, a group of teachers recently filed a class action lawsuit against school COVID-19 requirements for vaccines, face masks and testing. In some cities, police unions are opposing vaccine mandates through lawsuits, although experts said this was aimed at protecting officers and the public. A judge has temporarily blocked New York City's municipal workers' vaccine requirement for a police detective who doesn't want to be inoculated.

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Since COVID-19 vaccines were introduced, 14 percent of people in the US said they would never get a shot. They claimed religious or health exemptions, cited mistrust of the government, or opposed "authoritarian controls".

Experts said people's attitudes toward vaccination reflect partisan divides, and the vaccines have widened this split.

At least six conservative broadcasters who questioned COVID-19 vaccines died from the virus this year, according to a National Public Radio, or NPR, report. Their deaths may mirror a wider trend in the US－people who live in parts of the country that support former president Donald Trump are less likely to be vaccinated and more likely to die from COVID-related complications, the report said.

The NPR analysis shows that counties that voted for Trump had almost three times the death rate of those that voted for Biden in last year's presidential election.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Dec 1, 2021. (SUSAN WALSH / AP)

More vulnerable

The partisan pattern of COVID-related deaths was not that apparent in the first year, but with the arrival of vaccines, this division is leaving conservative areas more vulnerable to outbreaks and deaths, as these locations tend to have older residents, are less prosperous, and more opposed to mask wearing and vaccines.

Almost 40 percent of Republican adults remain unvaccinated, compared with about 10 percent of Democrat adults, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor in October.

The partisan pattern of COVID-related deaths was not that apparent in the first year, but with the arrival of vaccines, this division is leaving conservative areas more vulnerable to outbreaks and deaths, as these locations tend to have older residents, are less prosperous, and more opposed to mask wearing and vaccines

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a recent interview with CBS News, "The degree of hesitancy that we are experiencing now with COVID-19 vaccines has a lot to do with ideological persuasion, which is really, completely, unacceptable." He said he did not have a good solution, apart from "getting vaccine requirements".

Hostility to vaccines in the US stems from disinformation. When he was in office, Trump played down the danger of the virus, while other nations took it seriously. With promotion by Trump's allies and right-wing media, public attitudes quickly took hold, further polarizing the pandemic.

Fauci said the situation would have been different if Trump had led in a contrasting way.

"When you have a leadership denying that something is as serious as it is, then you have a real problem. So in that respect, it could have gone differently," he said.

One of the things that "went awry in all of this is this misplaced perception about people's individual right to make a decision that supersedes societal safety," Fauci added.

Republican senators, including Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, have continued to cast doubt on the safety of vaccines and their effectiveness. Two other Republican senators, Ted Cruz of Texas and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, even proposed federal legislation that would block face mask or vaccine mandates, and seven states prohibited local school districts from requiring students and teachers to wear face coverings.

The partisan divide in the US stands out, even by international standards. No country was as politically divided over its government's handling of COVID-19 as the US was last summer, according to a 14-nation survey

From the presidential election last year to the attempted recall of the Democratic governor of California in September, bitter partisan disagreements exposed by the pandemic are drawing the US further apart.

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On Jan 6, pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol in Washington, seeking to overturn his defeat in the election. Ahead of the riot, Trump called his supporters to gather in Washington to support his false claim that the election had been "stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats".

The Capitol riot left five dead, including a police officer. About 600 people have been charged with federal crimes in connection with January's violence. Despite a second impeachment, for inciting the insurrection, and widespread condemnation, Trump continues to spread his "stolen election" claim, without any evidence, at Republican rallies. In next year's races for elected office, Republicans eager for Trump's support have embraced these baseless allegations.

The partisan divide in the US stands out, even by international standards. No country was as politically divided over its government's handling of COVID-19 as the US was last summer, according to a 14-nation survey.

Some observers say it may be too late to change people's attitudes, with almost two years of Trump playing down the risk of the virus. The widening partisan divisions have taken a toll on people from all walks of life and their daily routines.

The disproportionate impact on minority groups and the low-income population has been a recurring theme throughout the pandemic.

In this file photo taken on Nov 27, 2021, demonstrators holding protest signs reading 'Police Lives Matter', and 'All Lives Matter' demonstrate across the street from a 'Black Lives Matter' demonstration in the town square in Warrenton, Virginia. (ALEX EDELMAN / AFP)

Higher death rates

Stark racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and social justice in the US have been revealed by COVID-19.Different studies show the fatality rates among black, Hispanic and other racial and ethnic minority groups have been much higher than among whites.

According to the APM Research Lab, mortality rates among black US citizens are significantly higher than those for all other races and ethnic groups except for Indigenous people. For every 100,000 such citizens, some 256 Indigenous people, 180 black people and 147 Hispanics had died from the coronavirus, compared with 150 whites, as of March.

The richest individuals in the US have become wealthier during the pandemic, while the poor have fallen further behind. The country's billionaires saw their collective fortune skyrocket by two-thirds from the start of the pandemic in March last year to August this year, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality

In addition to the health disparities exposed by the pandemic, it has led to greater financial hardship among black and Hispanic citizens, who were already more likely to have lower incomes long before COVID-19 emerged.

They have been hit the hardest because they often work in the service industry and their jobs cannot be done remotely. As the economy starts to recover, they are not returning to work at the same rate as white professionals.

As of last month, the unemployment rate was highest among black US citizens, at 6.7 percent, compared with 3.7 percent among white workers. The shift to remote working has played a role. Those most able to work from home, with a lower exposure to the virus, are disproportionately well-educated, high-earning and white.

The richest individuals in the US have become wealthier during the pandemic, while the poor have fallen further behind. The country's billionaires saw their collective fortune skyrocket by two-thirds from the start of the pandemic in March last year to August this year, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's wealth has risen by $150 billion during the pandemic, a gain of more than 600 percent, according to the report.

Long-term unemployment has risen more sharply among jobless Asian American workers, even higher than among black unemployed workers. About 25 percent of Asian Americans work in industries hit hard by COVID-19－hospitality and leisure, retail, and other fields, such as hair and nail salons and personal services.

The increasing economic inequality is related to increasing discrimination, and the increasing income and wealth inequality in the US over the past decades has contributed to greater discrimination.

Donald Mar, emeritus professor of economics at San Francisco State University

Donald Mar, emeritus professor of economics at San Francisco State University, said, "The increasing economic inequality is related to increasing discrimination, and the increasing income and wealth inequality in the US over the past decades has contributed to greater discrimination."

Struggling with the worst rate of long-term joblessness, Asian Americans have faced rising racism and the most mental health distress during the pandemic.

Amid talk of the "China virus" or "kung flu" by Trump and Republican politicians, racism and violence against Asian Americans is cause for concern. Several videos this year, showing mostly elderly Asians being attacked or robbed in broad daylight, drew widespread attention.

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From March last year to Sept 30 this year, 10,370 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit organization tracking such cases.

One in five Asian Americans experienced a hate incident in the past year, which translates to an estimated 4.8 million Asian Americans nationwide, according to the organization's latest report.

Asian Americans are among the groups at greater risk of mental health challenges during COVID-19, and they have reported increased stress due to pandemic-related hate and harassment, according to US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's recent public health advisory.

Murthy, in his advisory, calls for nationwide action to address what he terms "a youth mental health crisis", a long-existing problem worsened by the pandemic. "The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating," he said.

A woman demands gun control during a protest in El Paso, Texas, the United States, on Aug 7, 2020, after a shooting that left 22 dead. (PHOTO / XINHUA)]

Students slain

On Nov 30, a 15-year-old boy armed with a semiautomatic handgun opened fire at Oxford High School in Michigan, killing four students, injuring six others and a teacher. The incident renewed national debate on school shootings and gun violence against the backdrop of the pandemic.

Also last month, a school in Arizona banned backpacks and food deliveries after a student was shot in a bathroom. A district in New York state offered remote learning following two separate shootings near its schools. Nationwide, schools are increasing safety measures, canceling classes and even using police escorts for students arriving on campus.

Study leader Paddy Ssentongo said the pandemic has been associated with psychological distress caused by shelter-in-place orders, increased rates of domestic violence, disruption of social networks, unemployment and record increases in gun sales and access to guns. He added that all these factors are plausible explanations for the surge in such gun violence

There have been 240 school shooting incidents in the US this year, an all-time high, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security's K-12 School Shooting Database. This total is over 100 more than those in 2019 or 2018, respectively the second- and third-worst years on record.

Such trends are part of an overall rise in what has been called a gun violence "epidemic" across the US, tied in part to record sales of such weapons.

Gun violence rose by 30 percent nationwide year-on-year in the 12 months from March last year, according to a new study published by the international journal Nature in October.

There was a significant rise in gun violence in 28 of the 50 US states. In Minnesota, Michigan and New York, the rate shot up by 100 percent, the study found.

Study leader Paddy Ssentongo, an assistant professor at the Center for Neural Engineering at Pennsylvania State University, said, "We are not surprised that the gun violence rates have been higher during the pandemic, but we are surprised by the magnitude of the increase."

Ssentongo said the pandemic has been associated with psychological distress caused by shelter-in-place orders, increased rates of domestic violence, disruption of social networks, unemployment and record increases in gun sales and access to guns. He added that all these factors are plausible explanations for the surge in such violence.

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John Donohue, a Stanford University law professor who studies gun violence, said periods of stress were associated with more shootings. He predicted "some restoration of normality" as the pandemic recedes.

However, for some, returning to normal is not good enough, and they see the pandemic as an opportunity for a reset.

Elaine Peng, president and CEO of the Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities in the Bay Area, said: "The pandemic shines a spotlight on racism, inequality and other long-overlooked problems. It could be used as a catalyst to seek new pathways to address these problems."

She said she has seen heightened public awareness of racism, and increased willingness to talk about mental illness, instead of treating it as taboo. "We shouldn't forget this when things get back to normal," Peng added.