The world has reached a grim international milestone: 4 million people worldwide have died of COVID-19.

The United Nations director-general said this week that some countries “relaxing as though the pandemic is already over” as he described a wave of death in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In the U.S. though, many are experiencing a different reality. With nearly half of Americans fully vaccinated, most restrictions have been lifted and many have returned to what feels like pre-pandemic life.

But experts say that’s premature — as some areas of the country battle outbreaks and struggle to get people vaccinated as the more contagious Delta variant of the virus spreads.

Here & Now‘s Peter O’Dowd talk to Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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