Anthony Fauci has an interesting take on the current pandemic situation in the US. He said that Covid is slowly reaching its threshold level and things look manageable from here on. He was clear that this is something that we can continue to live with.
Fauci Says Covid Slowly Becoming Manageable In US
It has become evident that removing Covid completely from the world is no more a possibility. The regular mutations of the virus have ensured that it survives without any issues in the world.
The new variant Omicron has already managed to penetrate a large population of the world in a matter of few weeks. The speed with which it has spread into different countries has shown that we can never be isolated from the rest of the world.
Experts are of the opinion that we are nowhere close to the peak in this wave. The peak is expected to come in the next few weeks and the numbers have already surpassed the peak levels of the previous wave.
Fauci also agreed that vaccine efficacy has reduced against Covid due to a large number of mutations. However, he made it clear that getting vaccinated is our only known protection and everyone should do it without fail.
Getting vaccinated can clearly avoid severe outcomes in most cases. This is also evident from the recent data where most of the ICU admissions belonged to people who were not vaccinated in the US.
As new drugs to treat Covid become available, it becomes easy to manage this virus in the long run. The US is logging in close to a million cases per day in the recent week and the trend is likely to continue for the next few months. The number of hospitalizations across the US has crossed the previous peak even though Omicron produces milder symptoms when compared to Delta.
However, Fauci said that we are not yet at the threshold point but reaching there soon. This is positive news as it means that we can continue to lead a normal life without worrying too much about the virus in the near future.
In a way, the rapid spread of Omicron has benefited everyone as it kind of acts like a natural immunity for those who are not vaccinated. Doctors have however warned against such theories as Omicron can still lead to a lot of deaths.
Meanwhile, the political opposition towards vaccines still continues in the US. Recently Fauci along with other top officials of the Biden administration was called to testify before the Senate. Several questions related to the lack of testing facilities were raised by the lawmakers. Republican Senator Rand Paul accused Fauci of the covid related deaths in the country.
Responding to the allegations, Fauci said that he and his team have always advocated the use of vaccines. It is interesting to note that a large number of ICU admissions in the new wave of pandemics are coming from those who are not vaccinated.
Among the vaccinated, very few people have died in this wave. Fauci also blamed the opposition for making accusations without any proof. Fauci also said that he had life threats and his family was harassed by people who were against the vaccines.
Meanwhile, the number of cases is growing at a rapid pace across the US. Even though Omicron causes milder symptoms, it is more transmissible than Delta and other variants.
The new variant is known to reside in the nose and throat and does not affect the lungs in a big way. Due to this reason, it can get easily transmitted than other variants. Apart from that, the new variant is also able to invade vaccine immunity in a large number of people.
