The planned release date is sometime next year.
Replace "next year" with "2007," so it will still be acurate after 2006.
The plague was incredible. It was the most devastating in human history. The virus spread by touch and became a threat to all of the world.
All those sentences are redundant. Something like "The plague became the most devastating in human history. Spreading by touch, it became a threat to the whole world." would be better.
but without a substantial amount of evidence—they dared not open a public debate
That hyphen doesn't really belong there.
The death toll from the plague drastically fell. More joined the fight against the plague.
The same as the second comment. My suggestion is "With more people joining the fight against the plague, the death toll fell drastically."
The new vessels were capable of traveling at extreme speeds over 100 kilometers per second. The vessels were gigantic compared to previous space technology, able to transport 100,000 people per ship.
Again, too many sentances. Make it something like "Dispite the vessels' gigantic size - able to transport 100,000 people at a time - they traveled at speeds over 100 kilometers per second."
The shuttles became efficient enough to migrate the population to mars in less than 12 years
Forgot a period at the end.
The plague had consumed all of earth. It had reduced Africa and Asia to bleak wastelands, making them unlivable.
Mentioning the plague twice is redundant. A redo of the second sentence: "Africa and Asia had been reduced to bleak wastelands, making them unlivable."