Covid surges in US as unequal access plagues vaccination and treatment rates

Data shows overall resistance to masks, but lower Paxlovid prescription and vaccination rates for people of color

Covid is surging across the US, with levels of the virus on track to exceed last summer's wave nationally and approaching the peak of last winter's wave in the west, according to wastewater data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Yet vaccination and antiviral uptake, plagued by inequitable access, have remained low, and other precautions like mask-wearing are being met with increasing resistance.