Xinhua and AP
Newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, March 31, 2022, p. 13
Geneva. SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the current covid-19 pandemic, is likely to continue to evolve as global transmission continues, but its severity will be reduced due to immunity acquired by vaccination and contagion. , indicated yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO).
During an online press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented three possible scenarios for how the pandemic could evolve this year.
Based on what we know now, the most likely scenario is that the virus will continue to evolve, but the severity of the illness it causes will reduce over time as immunity from vaccination and infections increase.
said the head of the WHO. In addition, he warned that periodic spikes in cases and deaths may occur as immunity weakens, which could require periodic booster doses for vulnerable populations.
At best, we could see less severe variants emerge, so booster doses or new formulations may not be necessary
he added.
In the worst case, a more virulent and highly transmissible variant can emerge. In the face of this new threat, people’s protection against severe illness and death, whether from vaccination or previous infection, would decline rapidly.
he pointed.
The head of the WHO categorically raised his recommendations for countries to end the acute phase of the pandemic in 2022.
First: surveillance, laboratory tests and public health intelligence; second: vaccination, social and public health measures, and engaged communities; third: clinical care for covid-19 and resilient health systems; fourth: research and development, as well as equitable access to tools and supplies; and fifth, coordination as the response moves from emergency to long-term respiratory disease management
said.
They investigate how the coronavirus spreads in animals
In another matter, wildlife experts are looking for the virus that causes Covid-19 in deer, bears, elk and wolves in Minnesota forests. These are researchers from around the world trying to find out how and where the coronavirus spreads in wildlife, just as international health agencies advocate for increased monitoring of infected animals.
Scientists are very concerned about the possible evolution of the covid-19 virus among animal populations. If that were to happen, it would spawn potentially dangerous viral mutations that could infect humans, spread from person to person and reignite what for now seems like a waning crisis. The researchers are aware that viruses have already passed from humans to animals and vice versa.
