CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As the omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads and continues to strain the healthcare system, there are some signs of hope.
Doctors are optimistic the number of people getting infected with the highly contagious variant will put immunity in a place where the pandemic could become endemic.
The endemic phase is when hospitals aren’t overwhelmed and case levels are low, making the virus more manageable.
Many people are suffering from COVID-19 fatigue and are ready to put the pandemic in the past.
“The last two years have been stunning as we’ve seen this progression of variants,” Dr. Jonathan Quick with Duke University said.
But this latest variant, omicron, could help with pushing the world closer to the endemic phase, when there aren’t major surges, and it is easier to live with.
But how quickly the world gets there depends on how people behave, and doctors say now is not the time to let guards down.
“We need to be aggressively persistent and make sure we keep on this trajectory,” Dr. Quick said.
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Omicron is infecting so many people, it’s ramping up the population’s immunity.
“This added immunity from people recovering from omicron infections represents an opportunity for us. That’s an opportunity to continue using the safe and effective vaccines we have to suppress future waves,” Lavanya Vasudevan with Duke University said.
Masking and distancing will continue to be important, but getting more people vaccinated and boosted will be the key.
“The vaccines we have, particularly here in the U.S., excellent safety profiles and effectiveness to prevent severe COVID infections and death,” Vasudevan said. “It’s actually frightening to think how much bigger the toll of COVID would’ve been without these vaccines.”
Doctors said it is too early to completely move back to normal behavior as that is what will keep the community from moving into the endemic phase.