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Introduction
As the world limps into the third year since the outbreak of COVID-19, it becomes clear we need to strategize how to fight new variants after Omicron. Many people have assumed they had their run-in with Covid and that the pandemic is ending soon. The current variant, called Omicron, may appear to cause less severe disease than its predecessors, but the next mutation may be more dangerous than the Delta variant. Besides, the risk of catching Covid more than once is real despite receiving your vaccination shots. According to Machado et al. (10), Omicron has been associated with greater transmissibility and propensity to evade peoples immune systems, even those previously immured by primary vaccination. The celebration of the effectiveness of booster shots against the Delta variant was short-lived, as Omicron appears to raise the bar higher.
Today, the U.S. still suffers from another covid-19 variant surge despite the best effort by researchers and doctors to help sick Americans. Instead of focusing on the drowning people downstream, we also need to look upstream and warn people of the dangers of rapids upstream. Therefore, it is clear the U.S. needs to plan now to avoid another epidemic with the new variants. Understandably, the onset of the covid-19 got us unaware because it was a new virus. Little could be done rather than staying home to save our lives. However, we now know what needs to be done to help the ailing and mitigate the viral infection. The lockdown crisis management implemented in almost all countries brought worldwide disruption never experienced in decades. Our aim should be to learn lessons and learn how to manager similar pandemic in future without significant impact on the normal life. As long as we convince ourselves that saving the currently dying people is fine, the country is setting itself up for another round of being overwhelmed.
The U.S. can change the pattern by avoiding premature celebration and proactively preparing for the almost-inevitable next surge. The solution is to practice health best practices at their best by having people vaccinated. It includes mandatory quarantine for people exposed to the virus, maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and using economic stimulus to promote economic recovery during a pandemic. The country needs to invest in better data systems to signal upcoming surges and provide clear metrics on when to increase protection measures. A better data system will provide reliable means to determine when to relax or tighten the protection rather than letting states rely on infections to reinforce policies. The country also needs more available tests, equitable and affordable treatments, high-quality ventilation, and better community engagement to prepare citizens for possible pandemics from the new corona variant.
The Need for Extensive Vaccination
President Bidens administration has done a commendable job of ensuring Americans get vaccinated. The administration should consider short and medium-term strategies for timing and rolling out booster shots. Other public health authorities worldwide are already recommending fourth doses for people with the highest risk of severe disease based on recent studies (CDC). It is unknown whether the public interest in boosters will continue to decline or whether demand will dictate uptake like in flu vaccines.
One fact remains that population immunity to current and future variants will lessen over time without continued immunization. The CDC says that breakthrough infection in vaccinated people is expected, but vaccination and updating booster shots are the surest way to protect against Omicron. Recent authorization of covid-19 vaccination of children up to six months old is another critical step in combating new variants (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). There is hope that vaccinating the kids will increase the overall populations immunity, besides the fact that COVID-19 is less severe in this age group. Boosting vaccination for all age groups will ensure a robust response, unlike during the first outbreak when mistakes cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Although intensifying vaccination of the population is a positive boost for the future, the U.S. health authority needs to look at a broader range of indicators to support their planning and covid-19 management effort. The home-based model of testing covid-19 has increased with no significant effort put into collecting the results. Measuring the waves true magnitude and monitoring the varus variants has become difficult. Therefore, official statistics may undermine the actual number of cases and become even less sensitive to viral transmissions. Consumer behavior is one indicator that will help the health authorities gather relevant data as home testing becomes widely available. For instance, purchasing test kits could provide insight into future covid upsurge, similar to flu-related online searches. The data, when harnessed, could provide pivotal information for the government to adjust its responses in the future.
Mandatory Quarantine
Quarantine was initially referred to as self-quarantine, meaning selective individuals suspected to be carriers are isolated from the healthy population. However, a new term, mass quarantine, emerged during the corona, which refers to the governments enforced isolation of people to flatten the infection curve. Some researchers have indicated that extensive travel restrictions and compulsory quarantine may do more harm than good (Aditya et al. 3868). While I agree mass quarantine and extensive travel restrictions are not any better, mandatory quarantine should be explicitly applied to people from high-risk regions or having been exposed instead of indiscriminate quarantine.
The U.S. response to the first pandemic went wrong in many ways, such as slow and flawed testing, decentralized response, inadequate tracing, isolation, and quarantine. The situation was further escalated by the muzzling of CDC and top government experts, making it difficult to communicate accurate and lifesaving scientific information. However, government science agencies and health officials have gained renewed respect and independence, except for public trust, which may take time. The mandatory quarantine will be essential in controlling the spread of covid if we hope to contain a future outbreak of a deadlier variant. The government needs to transition people into such eventuality by sensitizing the public on quarantine and self-isolation and its benefits. It will help the U.S. gain general public acceptance to isolate those with known or suspected infection better, trace their contacts, or enforce isolation. Therefore, the U.S. needs to take advantage of this window to develop widespread and aggressive testing and contact tracing protocols that can have more long-term benefits.
Effectiveness of Social Distance and Wearing Masks
During the onset of COVID-19, CDC and WHO stated that face masks were not necessary for the general public unless they experienced symptoms or cared for the sick. Scientists have now established that proper ventilation, wearing a well-fitted mask, and maintaining social distance effectively reduce transmission. Research shows that community-level social distancing and individual face masks had 62% and 31% reduced risks of predicted COVID-19, respectively (Kwon et al. 2). Therefore, despite massive vaccination campaigns, the continued effort to social distance and face mask use remains critical in controlling the spread of the coronavirus.
Many countries in East and Southeast Asia, including China and Japan, had normalized wearing masks before the covid pandemic due to the SARS virus outbreak in 2002. Therefore, they had an adequate stockpile of face masks to supply their population, unlike in the U.S., where short supply became a major challenge in fighting the spread of corona. The confusion on face mask guidelines, together with politicians and influential people, may make it harder to fight the new COVID-19 variants. Wearing masks could have saved nearly 130,000 lives in the U.S. during the initial outbreak, based on a study in Nature Medicine (IHME COVID-19 Forecasting Team). President Biden made masks mandatory for interstate transit and government buildings, yet some states removed the restrictions. Social distance and face mask guidelines have been subject to changes whenever covid cases rise or fall. We never learn from past mistakes because the new variant of COVID-19 might hit differently.
Stimulus Checks to Promote Economic Recovery During a Pandemic
The coronavirus spread uncontrollably during 2020 and 2021, exhausting public health and healthcare resources. The U.S. economy is operating below its capacity, and recovery seems to stall due to coronavirus persistence. Stimulus checks during the 2020 corona pandemic boosted hospitals capacities, protected firms and families from eviction and bankruptcy, and addressed hunger (Gale and Enda ). It was a noble course that sustained hospitals, stabilized companies, and cautioned citizens from loss of income and increased health care expenses. Nevertheless, other drastic approaches are needed in the looming cases of new COVID-19 variants. For instance, there are encouraging signs of factoring sustainability into the long-term criteria.
The long-term sustainable criteria may require job creation, building future skills and health of the population, decarbonization, and building resilience to future shocks. For instance, stimulus should focus on building capacities for people and economies to cope with the shocks of COVID-19 and support green technologies like electric vehicles or low-tech options. The stimulus investment should not impose significant passive asset costs on the economy in the future in order to leverage funds to support public health efforts. Bills enacted during the 2020 corona pandemic seemed to provide relief rather than stimulus (Gale and Enda). Therefore, the stimulus should incentivize businesses to hire and invest and people to increase spending or work effort.
Refutation
Many U.S. citizens were made to believe that COVID-19 is no more dangerous than seasonal flu. In contrast, corona caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S., indicating the mutating variants could cause more deaths if they turn out to be more dangerous. Despite the strong consensus among the scientific communities and public health authorities, many people disregarded wearing masks and keeping social distance. For instance, some influential personalities in the U.S. government refuted wearing masks, including signing executive orders barring city governments from implementing mask mandates (Sayers et al. 2021). Nevertheless, scientific studies established that masks and keeping social distance minimized COVID-19 infection rates (Kwon et al. 2). States that were once against the directive had to revert to preventive measures as coronavirus cases spiked.
Many conspiracy theorists have disputed the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine or connected it to individuals and institutions using their power to benefit from it. However, no evidence exists that anyone or any organization has benefited from the vaccine. Hospitalization and deaths increased along with cases, necessitating a prompt solution. More research has established that people need continued vaccination to gain hard immunity against the virus. The introduction of COVID-19 vaccines has also reduced hospitalization and deaths. It enabled people to resume everyday life, unlike when a substantial number got sick and succumbed to the disease in the past (see figure 1). Therefore, the continued effort to enforce covid regulations is necessary to combat new variants and protect the citizens from another pandemic.
Conclusion
The new variant of COVID-19, called Omicron, has generic characteristics that predict greater transmissibility, evade diagnostic testing or immunity, or cause more severe disease. Therefore, new variants of COVID-19 will likely become severe and become a pandemic if left unchecked. Evidence from studies suggests current vaccines may become less effective on the mutating variants, but we should obtain them for added protection. Administering vaccines, along with health best practices, such as mandatory quarantine for those exposed, wearing of masks, and keeping social distance, are critical in preventing the spread of the virus. Health authorities, such as CDC and WHO, have recommended third and fourth booster shots to boost the immunity of at-risk populations. The approach, including vaccinating young children from 6 months, will boost our immunity and protect our citizens from another pandemic. The government also needs to implement sustainable stimulus, such as building future skills and health of the population, decarbonization, and building resilience to future shocks to cushion the people from the effects of another pandemic, should it occur.
Works Cited
Aditya, Patel, et al. Quarantine an Effective Mode for Control of the Spread of COVID19? A Review. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, vol. 9, no. 8, 2020, pp. 3867-3871. Web.
CDC. CDC Strengthens Recommendations and Expands Eligibility for COVID-19 Booster Shots. CDC, 2022. Web.
Gale, William and Grace Enda. Economic relief and stimulus: Good Progress But More Work to Do. Brookings, 2020. Web.
IHME COVID-19 Forecasting Team. Modeling COVID-19 scenarios for the United States. Nature Medicine, vol. 27, no. 1,2021, 94-105. Web.
Kwon, S, et al. Association of social distancing and face mask use with risk of COVID-19. Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, 2021, 1-10. Web.
Machado, Bruna, et al. The Importance of Vaccination in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Brief Update Regarding the Use of Vaccines. Vaccines , vol. 10, no. 4, 2022, 1-25. Web.
Piernas, Carmen, et al. Associations of BMI with COVID-19 vaccine uptake, vaccine effectiveness, and risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes after vaccination in England: a population-based cohort study. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, vol. 10, no. 1, 2022, 571-581. Web.
Sayers, Devon, Rebekah Riess and Jason Hanna. Georgias governor signs order letting businesses ignore local Covid-19 rules. 2021. CNN. Web.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines for Children Down to 6 Months of Age. 2022. FDA. Web.
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