It is axiomatic that unless COVID is effectively suppressed, the economy will not be restored to pre-pandemic levels.  According to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard, as of June 6th, 33.4 million confirmed cases of COVID have been diagnosed in the U.S. resulting in 597,377 deaths or a 1.8 percent fatality rate.  For the World, 3.7 million deaths were recorded with 173.1 million cases with a fatality rate of 2.1 percent.  Both the total number of cases in the U.S. and in the world are probably underreported.  The U.S. reported 13,908 new cases in the U.S. on June 5th, considerably lower than peak levels during the summer of 2020 and the early months of 2021. There were 376 deaths recorded in the U.S. on June 5th, reflecting the decline in incident cases.

Effective June 2nd 303 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the U.S., representing 80 percent of the doses distributed since vaccination commenced in January 2021. Approximately 64 percent of the U.S population have received at least one dose with 140 million fully vaccinated including 76 percent of those over 65 years in age. Among rheage group 12 through 17, 3 million have been fully vaccinated with the proportion increasing. In recent weeks uptake has slowed with a daily rate on June 2nd of 830,000 doses and with 470,000 achieving full protection per day. Vaccination is proceding at a lower rate in rural areas compared to urban and meropolitan centers.