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Friday, January 1, is New Year’s Day, the first day of the calendar year. People in almost every country celebrate this day as a holiday. The celebrations are both festive and serious. Many people make New Year’s resolutions to break bad habits or to start good ones. Some think about how they have lived during the past year and look forward to the next 12 months.

In a typical year, New Year’s celebrations may include visiting friends and relatives, giving gifts, and attending religious services. Celebrations usually start on New Year’s Eve, December 31. In the United States, many people go to New Year’s Eve parties. Crowds gather in Times Square in New York City, on State Street in Chicago, and in other public places. At midnight, bells ring, sirens sound, firecrackers explode, and everyone shouts, “Happy New Year!”

Of course, 2020 has not been a typical year, and 2021 New Year’s festivities are likely to look a little different. Efforts are being made to prevent the spread of the pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. Such efforts often include social distancing, meant to limit contact among people and thus the spread of germs. So, gone are the large crowds in Times Square. In addition, such traditional New Year’s Day celebrations as visiting friends and relatives or attending religious services might be limited to virtual events this year.

Many people may be particularly excited to say good-bye to 2020. The year was largely overshadowed by the pandemic. COVID-19 was first recognized in human beings in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. By January 30, COVID-19 had caused 170 deaths among some 8,000 confirmed cases. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of international concern. WHO recommended urgent containment measures as the number of cases and deaths continued to climb. On March 11, WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

As the pandemic progressed, some authorities closed schools and such businesses as restaurants, movie theaters, and barber shops and hair salons. Some officials issued stay-at-home orders. The orders forbade people from leaving their homes except for such necessary activities as working at an essential job, buying food, or seeing a doctor.

As of late December, COVID-19 has caused more than 1.7 million deaths worldwide, and more than 82.1 million cases had been confirmed. More than 185 countries have reported cases of COVID-19.

However, the new year offers hope in the form of vaccines, special medicines that can help make a person immune to a particular disease. The long-awaited V-Day, short for Vaccine Day, arrived in the United States on Monday, December 14, with the beginning of widespread vaccination against COVID-19. The first vaccine doses were given to health care workers. Next in line are frontline workers (workers likely to encounter the disease) and people who are vulnerable to the virus, including the elderly and people with such risk factors as obesity or diabetes. Some of these people have already received the vaccine, but most people may have to wait to be vaccinated until the spring of 2021.

So, it will take some time for things to return to normal. But, here’s wishing you a happier and healthier 2021!

October 31, 2014

Hopes for the survival of Australia’s wild koalas have been boosted by test results for a new vaccine against chlamydia, a disease that is ravaging populations of the beloved marsupial. One of vaccine’s developers told news media that the sexually transmitted disease, which causes blindness and infertility, is one of the “tipping points” contributing to the decline of the species. Estimates of the current size of the koala population vary from several hundred thousand to as few as 43,000. Conservationists estimate that the animal’s numbers in New South Wales and Queensland have fallen by as much as 40 percent since 1990. In 2012, the government of Australia, for the first time, listed koalas as a vulnerable species in the states of New South Wales and Queensland and in the Australia Capital Territory. Other threats facing koalas include habitat loss, wild and domestic dogs, urban development, mining, and climate change.

For the trial, researchers captured  60 wild koalas and fitted them with radio collars so the animals’ movements could be tracked. They then vaccinated 30 of the koalas. Some of these koalas were healthy; some were infected by chlamydia; some had already developed symptoms of the disease. The researchers found that none of the vaccinated koalas developed the disease. In addition, those animals already infected did not go on to develop chlamydia. And nearly all of those that had symptoms improved. Among the nonvaccinated group, more of the koalas became infected and the condition of animals with chlamydia worsened.

A female koala carries her joey (young) on her back. Wild koala populations have fallen because of the bacterial infection chlamydia. Scientists are working on a vaccine to prevent and treat the infection in koalas.  (Dave Watts, Tom Stack & Associates)

The researchers plan to continue their tests for another year. If results remain positive, wild koalas could be vaccinated for their protection. “We hope to specifically show a positive effect of the vaccination disease, not just infection, as well as female reproduction rates,” one of the researchers said.

Additional World Book articles:

• Endangered species