Endgame or endemic?Whatever the New Year brings, it needs a shot

WHO states that the immunity given is sufficient to prevent serious illness in the majority of people, even if the vaccine’s defense against mild or asymptomatic infections is reduced. Therefore, WHO Executive Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for “a moratorium on additional vaccination for healthy adults until the end of 2021 to combat persistent and serious inequality in global vaccine access.” ..

While most manufacturers “greatly stimulated the opportunity to share technology and know-how and public health-oriented licenses” for vaccines, WHO said, “Vaccine doses are sufficient worldwide, reducing infections and many. Can save lives for those who need them most in the world. ”

Currently, the world’s monthly vaccine production is close to 1.5 billion times. India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, is an important gear in the supply chain. Therefore, lack of access is “not a matter of supply. It is a matter of allocation,” WHO said. “Global access to the Covid-19 vaccine delays the coronavirus pandemic, saves lives, and the world. We offer the best hopes for ensuring a pandemic economic recovery. “

Experts emphasized the message that no one is safe unless everyone is safe, and the universal availability of vaccines will eventually become as the virus becomes epidemic, as in the case of seasonal flu in the world. Should adapt to coexistence with the virus and be given an updated version of the Covid-19 vaccine annually.

Do new variants make the virus milder?

The shock among experts to the unprecedented number of mutations Omicron received is that the latest WHO-designated mutants of concern have milder illness, even though it could spread more easily among people. It was accompanied by speculation that it was likely to cause it. However, this assumption is not important as long as a large number of infections and reinfections in those who have already recovered from a Covid-19 attack or breakthrough infections in vaccinated people are more likely. Higher hospitalizations and deaths cannot be ruled out.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead, COVID-19 “The more cases we have, the more hospitalizations we have, and the strain on our health care system means that people die because they don’t get the proper treatment they need,” he explains. Therefore, even if Omicron causes a mild infection, Van Kerkhove says, “Early reports suggest that Omicron is less severe than Delta.” Not vaccinated. “

Some researchers have expressed hope that Omicron will accelerate the transfer of the virus from a pandemic to endemic, but be aware that it may still increase the number of hospitalizations and deaths. Therefore, the best scenario summarized by Professor David Ho of Columbia University is that Omicron acts like a “rapid fire” and burns out very quickly before extinguishing. But the more general view is: Covid is likely to endemic in the end. This is a reiterated view by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who said, “At some point next year, Covid-19 will be endemic almost everywhere.”

The epidemic means that people have to get used to living with the disease and rely on regular vaccination and antiviral treatment to ensure that the outbreak is less severe and localized. It will be like. Gates pointed out the emergence of a new antiviral drug, Covid, as an important aid in controlling the disease.

McKinsey, a consultant major, Report “Clinical management of Covid-19 has come a long way since the early days of the pandemic,” and “the availability of effective monoclonal antibodies, dexamethasone, and other therapies and the use of non-pharmacological interventions … are meaningful. Increased survival potential for people with quality medical care. ” He added that the development of antiviral drugs such as molnupiravir, which is also licensed in India, “increases the potential for controlling material advances and the effects of Omicron variants.”

“Oral treatment, which significantly reduces the likelihood of progression to serious disease after onset of symptoms, may allow more cases to be managed as outpatients. Such treatments may allow It’s easier to do in resource-poor areas than injectable or infused treatments, “says McKinsey.

Therefore, the direction Covid-19 will take in 2022 will depend on how fast and widely the vaccine (and possibly booster) will be distributed worldwide, and the development of antiviral therapies. prize. Experts have also focused on “public fatigue” regarding compliance with safety protocols such as masking, distance measurement, and frequent hand washing as the pandemic approaches its third year, so “appropriate public health measures”. The need to “find a combination” becomes important. “To get a firm grasp of the new coronavirus.

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