The second reason is very disappointing: Omicron infection does not increase your immunity as expected. Reinfections are becoming more common, not necessarily milder than the initial infection, and appear to be associated with accumulated damage. The more infections you have, the worse it seems.
Which brings us to another important concern: the neglected issue of the long COVID. Recent data show that COVID is still produced for a long time with Omicron. While lower than the rate of previous variants, Omicron’s gigantic case load means that COVID-19 will have a steady, large-scale effect on health, well-being, and business.
Coronavirus has been genetically modified to new forms as a result of mutations. Credit: AP
Like all aspects of the disease, for a long time COVID is worse in disadvantaged communities, the very people we care about the most. It is important to note that the mechanisms of long-term organ damage caused by COVID (it is much more than fatigue) are being better understood with the worrying potential of the persistent virus or components of the virus in the body.
This new understanding of what is driving frequent reinfections and new waves, and the growing concern and understanding of long-term COVID, argues that any strategy that presumes that widespread infection may be part of a COVID exit route should be abandoned. in favor of one that reduces transmission. .
Stopping the infection completely would be great, of course. But delaying the infection and reducing the frequency of infection are also very powerful for people and the community. In addition to reducing clinical harm and slowing down viral progression, delay is gaining time to develop and deliver even better tools and strategies.
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What to do now? The most important thing we can do is for our leaders to clearly point to a strategic turn to be fiercely anti-transmission, and to do so without disturbing restrictions. Under this strategic axis, we propose some priorities:
First, we need much greater efforts to increase the languid coverage of the third and fourth doses in adults, vaccinate children 5 to 11 years, which remains at minus 40%, and hope to vaccinate younger children soon . Encouragingly, the new Minister of Health took the first step yesterday in announcing a $ 11 million campaign to encourage the adoption of vaccination.
Second, we need to reduce airborne transmission by promoting, providing and reintroducing high quality masks (N95 / P2) into high risk indoor environments and seriously investing in improving indoor air quality. The latter does not need any social license, it must be done immediately.
Third, we need a national database that provides more timely information on various aspects of the pandemic, such as more details about those who are hospitalized and dying, who can access life-saving antiviral drugs like Paxlovid. You should also keep track of the common time is COVID.
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Our Omicron experience, and the underlying science, call the current high-transmission situation unsustainable. Many Australians are on their way to two, three or even more COVID-19 attacks this calendar year. We can do so much better.
We can move to a strategy of low transmission, more vaccines, where we apply proven measures that cause minimal disruption to our lives and, with much less COVID-19, promote a healthier, less altered and economically stronger community.
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