with Omicron, even those who take the strictest prevention measures can become infected
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is here to stay and most people will encounter it several times in their lifetime.
hybrid immunity from vaccination and infection is broader and greater than either separately.
Given those complexities, what are the uncertainties and trade-offs that governments, the experts advising them, and the public will have to balance?We argue that it’s time to focus on preventing serious illness, and here’s why.
In June 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) revised its global COVID-19 vaccination strategy. This included an ambitious goal to vaccinate one hundred percent fitness staff and adults over the age of 60.
New Zealand is close to that goal. For others over the age of 65, the two-dose policy is greater than 95% and the first-call policy is greater than 80%. Less than 5% of those eligible for their first reminder have not yet earned it. For healthcare workers, booster doses remain mandatory for existing workers to have a full policy.
For other people over the age of 65 living in care facilities for the elderly, New Zealand complied with the 89% retirement policy until mid-February 2022. This start before Omicron is the largest contributor to New Zealand’s almost exclusive total number in the world decreases than the total expected number of deaths from all causes in the two years prior to July 2022.
By contrast, other countries in the Asia-Pacific region with equally strict non-pharmaceutical measures at the beginning of Omicron had much higher excess mortality. This includes Australia, where recovery policy in aged care was less than 10% in January 2022.
It also includes Hong Kong, where less than 50% of other people over the age of 70 had gained two doses and suffered world-record mortality rates when Omicron arrived; and Singapore, which has the global two-dose policy among children over the age of 5 to 11 (over 75%), but 5% of other people over the age of 80 were still unvaccinated by August 2022.
More than six months after the Omicron era, more than 80% of New Zealand adults have gained at least two doses of the vaccine. It is one of the 25 most sensitive countries in the world. But significant gaps remain in policy for Māori adults under the age of 50.
In France, during the Delta period, other people without other physical disorders accounted for 50% of the 28 million other people with two doses of vaccine. But they accounted for only 10% of the 5345 hospitalizations and 2% of the 996 covid deaths. .
The greatest threat of severe disease in two-dose recipients on older post-transplant dialysis equipment and those living with cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, intellectual disability or active lung cancer. other people living in poorer areas.
When Delta was widespread, adults (especially others over the age of 50) needed a booster dose to maintain smart coverage. After Omicron, booster doses were supplemented by early use of antivirals and prophylactic treatment with antibodies, particularly coverage of others fully vaccinated. people still vulnerable to serious diseases.
What about younger, low-threat populations?In young people and adolescents, the vaccine protects well against the low threat of serious illness. This direct coverage deserves to be the driving force of vaccination, not brief discounts on infection in their homes, schools or communities. We propose normal reviews of threat-compensation benefits for wearing masks in schools.
Long Covid is a complicated, confusing topic through the conversion of definitions, the combination of knowledge from pre- and post-vaccination periods, and differences in age groups.
New studies show that the threat of prolonged Covid arising significantly reduces the Omicron era as a whole. Prolonged Covid is also not much less unusual in fully vaccinated people, adding healthcare workers. We are not yet aware of the long Covid threat with hybrid immunity.
As New Zealand emerges from its Omicron peak, the buildup of hybrid immunity and a smart, though not the best, toolbox for others at risk of serious illness changes the threat-benefit balance of an oblique strategy of “minimizing infection. “to a direct strategy of “maximizing immunity”. “.
It’s time to talk about whether New Zealand is willing to measure the good fortune of its Covid strategy through its ability to save you from serious illness or whether it needs to measure good fortune through the number of infections of any severity. Making this resolution requires a critical examination of the pros, cons, and cost-effectiveness of the approach.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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