Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, almost half a million people in Idaho have been officially diagnosed with coronavirus and nearly 5,200 people in the Gem State have died.

Over the last week, we have seen 354 new cases of COVID-19 in Idaho and a week ago 37 people showed up in the emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms. So the coronavirus is still with us, but what is the situation in Idaho and in the U.S.? And with people still getting sick, why is the vaccine booster rate so low?

Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke's Health System and a current member of the Idaho Coronavirus Task Force, joins Idaho Matters to help us answer these questions.