Pandemic RNA viruses unpredictably evolve, are genetically distinct from circulating strains, and cause sustainable human-tohuman transmission and clinical illness. Starting in late 2019, the world was faced with a new coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)[1]. A pandemic was declared on March 11, 2020 and as of July 23 fifteen million cases and 619,150 deaths have been notified globally [1]. In this pandemic several countries experienced an unprecedented surge demand on their healthcare systems, which greatly exceeded their capacity to respond [2–4]. Shortages of healthcare workforce were also noted, with healthcare personnel (HCP), especially those in the frontline, disproportionately affected [5], and high rates of absenteeism were recorded [6].

As the potential of SARS-CoV-2 unfolds [7, 8], it is highly likely that a second pandemic wave will occur starting this fall/winter. Although by the time COVID-19 hit the United States and Europe the majority of our influenza season was over, it is likely that we will not be that lucky this fall/winter. The demand that could be imposed on healthcare systems is expected to far exceed that of medical care demands during the influenza seasons alone. This is