Despite the rollout of the vaccines in the US, experts continue to warn that the pandemic is far from over, and that another surge could be on its way in the country, owing to widespread Christmas travel and gatherings.

December has been a devastating month for the United States’, with over 60,000 deaths recorded these past 25 days. This comes as hospitals across the nation are struggling to accommodate patients, crippling under the increased burden. New stay-at-home restrictions have been put into place in various states.

Across the country, more than 600,000 people were screened at TSA checkpoints on Christmas Day, and hundreds of thousands more reportedly traveled in the days leading up to the holiday, and after.

According to experts, numbers are expected to climb again this weekend.

“The individuals who are traveling, they probably are not going camping in the wilderness. Probably they are going to see loved ones and having dinner without wearing masks, crowded indoors for prolonged periods of time,” emergency physician Dr. Leana Wen told CNN. “There are many people who may have COVID-19 and not know it and then spread it to their loved ones, and then they’re going to go back to their home communities and then infect others unknowingly.”

“What I worry about is those same individuals are then going to be in the hospitals, in the ICUs in two to three weeks’ time,” she added. “I just really worry about this surge that we’re going to see and how quickly we’re going to surpass that 400,000 deaths number.”

According to predictions from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, another 193,000 deaths due to the novel coronavirus are estimated in the next two months.

“The projections are just nightmarish,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease specialist at the Baylor College of Medicine. “People can still save the lives of their loved ones by practicing that social distancing and masks. And remember, vaccines are around the corner.”