NEW ORLEANS - Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johson & Jonson/Jansen. The designations of pharmaceutical companies that the average citizen would have been unfamiliar with two years ago are now household names.

These additions to the average citizen's daily vocabulary mark a positive change in the nation's fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

As the three aforementioned vaccines, authorized for use and recommended by U.S. health officials, are being rolled out across the nation and administered to citizens by the thousands, statistics indicate that COVID-19 cases are diminishing.

A similar indication of where the nation is in the fight against the health crisis was noted in a recent WWL-TV report on the number of COVID-19 cases being treated by Touro Infirmary in New Orleans.

The news outlet noted that for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Touro Infirmary is COVID free.

According to LCMC's CAO Ayame Dinkler, as of Wednesday, March 17, Touro had a total of zero coronavirus patients staying at its hospital, a situation that hasn't occurred since the pandemic began last March.

The Louisiana Department of Health reported that there were 446 patients hospitalized across the state on Wednesday, which is the lowest number Louisiana has seen since the pandemic's outbreak.

WWL-TV states that the rapid decline in hospitalizations coincides with the further expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility in the state.

President Joe Biden has outlined a plan to make all adult Americans eligible for the vaccine by May 1, and a spokesperson for Gov. John Bel Edwards’ office confirmed that Louisiana is expected to meet or even exceed that deadline.

With vaccine expansion continuing and COVID statistics lessening, anticipation for the end of the pandemic is increasing.