Healthcare workers wearing protective equipment are preparing to assist patients at the Portimao Arena sports pavilion transformed into a field hospital for Covid-19 patients in Portimao, in the Algarve region, on February 9, 2021. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP via Getty Images)
PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON – A growing chorus of doctors and public health officials have warned that even with the mass release of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, the disease could become endemic.
White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel and World Health Organization executive director Dr. Mike Ryan have all said in recent weeks that coronavirus can never go away.
To date, more than 107 million people worldwide have contracted Covid-19, with 2.36 million deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, warned that the virus appears to be becoming endemic at the end of last year. He reaffirmed his position earlier this week during a webinar for the Chatham House think tank.
“I think if you talk to most epidemiologists and most public health workers, they would say today that they think this disease will become endemic, at least in the short term and most likely in the long term,” he said.
Heymann is chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Hazards and headed the Infectious Diseases Health Agency unit during the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003.
We need to learn lessons from 2020 and act quickly. Every day counts.
Dr. Jeremy Farrar
Director Wellcome
He warned that it is not yet possible to be sure of the fate of the virus, as its outcome depends on many unknown factors.
“Right now, the focus is on saving lives, which they should be, and ensuring that hospitals are not overloaded with Covid patients – and this will be possible as we move forward,” Heymann said, citing the launch in mass of Covid vaccines.
“I have to learn lessons from 2020”
Mass delivery of Covid vaccines began in many high-income countries almost two months ago and has since increased, but mass immunization of populations will take some time.
Certainly, some low-income countries still do not receive a single dose of vaccine to protect people at highest risk of coronavirus.
A doctor takes notes during a training session given by Chinese doctors and medical experts through a teleconference in Maputo, Mozambique, on May 21, 2020. Chinese obstetricians and pediatricians share their experience with Mozambican doctors on the prevention and treatment of Covid-19 in pregnant women and children through a teleconference at Maputo Central Hospital.
Nie Zuguo | Xinhua News Agency Getty Images
A report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit last month predicted that most of the adult population in advanced economies will be vaccinated by the middle of next year. In contrast, however, this chronology extends to the beginning of 2023 for many middle-income countries and even to 2024 for some low-income countries.
It highlights the scale of the challenge of bringing the pandemic under control around the world.
“Covid-19 is an endemic human infection. The scientific reality is that with so many people infected around the world, the virus will continue to move,” said Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome and a member of research in the UK. Emergency Advisory Group (Sage).
“Living with this virus does not mean, however, that we cannot control it. We must learn lessons from 2020 and act quickly. Every day counts,” he added.
Balancing our lives with endemic diseases
“I think it’s good to put this in context and think about the other infectious diseases that are endemic today,” Heymann said at an online event on Wednesday when asked if policymakers should be careful. to other endemic diseases in response to the Covid pandemic.
He cited tuberculosis and HIV, as well as four endemic coronaviruses that are known to cause the common cold.
“We learned to live with all these infections, we learned how to make our own risk assessments. We have vaccines for some, we have therapies for others, we have diagnostic tests that can help us all do a better job of living with these infections. “
“There are some unknowns that make it very difficult for political leaders and public health leaders to make decisions about which strategies would be best, leading to the fact that we do not fully understand the ‘long Covid’ and its impact or appearance even after very serious infections. small, “he continued.
“So it’s not a matter of it being a special disease. It’s one of the many things we’re going to have to balance our lives with and understand how to deal with the flu like we do with other infections,” Heymann said. .
A nurse (R) checks a computer with the hospital’s director, Dr. Yutaka Kobayashi, on the coronavirus ward at Sakura General Hospital on February 10, 2021 in Oguchi, Japan. The hospital, like many others in Japan, has seen a steady stream of Covid-19 coronavirus patients over the past year, as the country faces an ongoing viral pandemic.
Carl Court | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The term “long covid” refers to patients suffering from prolonged illness after the initial onset of the virus, with symptoms that include shortness of breath, migraines and chronic fatigue.
Public discourse on the pandemic has largely focused on those with a severe or fatal illness, while ongoing medical problems due to the virus are often either underestimated or misunderstood.
Last month, the largest global study of long Covidulus to date found that many of those suffering from the ongoing disease after being infected with the virus were unable to return to work at full capacity six months later.