Right now, two and a half years into the pandemic, there are still many questions without answers. What happens for those seeking any type of care during a surge, when health systems are once again overwhelmed? What of patients with new diagnoses, new cancer treatments, new transplants-how will they navigate a system that, thanks to the desire of millions to get “ back to normal,” is increasingly hostile to medically vulnerable people? This is an especially pressing question as millions of Americans are now grappling with long Covid. Medical care could also become infinitely more complicated. Meanwhile, immunity from vaccines and prior infection is waning. While omicron has been hailed as “milder”- a complicated concept already-a new preprint study that has not been peer reviewed or published indicates that omicron is just as severe as previous variants, including delta. Adding another virus to the mix, permanently and without any real off-season, could interrupt education and wreak professional and economic havoc.Įven once quarantine and isolation requirements are lifted, sick people will still need to stay home to recover, and parents will have to care for sick children. People who didn’t have paid leave had to take unpaid time off from work, if they could, or work while they or loved ones were sick. While we’ve had two relatively calmer summers with regional spread, the relaxation of measures across the country seems to have triggered another surge, with nearly every state seeing an increase in Covid cases and hospitalizations.Įven before the pandemic, parents struggled to care for kids unexpectedly home from daycare and school with a seemingly endless array of viruses. And now, with the omicron wave, even more evidence is accumulating. There were some early signs that Covid might be different: While previous waves have reached their greatest peaks in winter, the virus also did significant damage in other seasons. But now, as cases rise steeply and summer approaches, Covid is again taking us by surprise. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.Almost since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, epidemiologists, policymakers, science journalists, and many more have held onto two general assumptions that give them hope: that eventually enough people might develop immunity to Covid-19 to slow down transmission and that even if Covid doesn’t fade away, it might become a more seasonal illness, like respiratory viruses such as the flu, RSV, and other bugs-even other coronaviruses. mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine boosters induce neutralizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. Reduced risk of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 after COVID-19 vaccination - Kentucky, May–June 2021. Does infection with or vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 lead to lasting immunity?. Answering patients’ questions about COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination. doi:10.1056/NEJMc2108120Ĭenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Severity of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections as compared with primary infections. Protection afforded by prior infection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection with the Omicron variant. Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa. Pulliam JRC, van Schalkwyk C, Govender N, et al. Statement – Update on COVID-19:Omicron is gaining ground: Protect, prevent, prepare. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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