The epidemiologist at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) Pedro Hallal declared, this Thursday (3), in an interview with CNNthat Brazil abandoned measures to prevent Covid-19 such as the use of masks and testing, focusing only on vaccination.
According to Hallal, the Ômicron variant is fulfilling all the promises it made when it first appeared. The new wave has high transmissibility and is less aggressive, increasing the number of cases, but with deaths unable to rise to the same level. However, he says that there is still a large number of deaths, caused by the increase in the confirmation of infected.
“We know that the Ômicron wave tends to be shorter than the previous waves, and maybe even because of that, there has been some underestimation that gave the idea that it was light. If we do nothing, for a few more days, the Omicron will cause more than 1,000 deaths a day. Brazil insists on adopting only one measure, which is vaccination. The other measures of testing and mask use seem to have been abandoned, and that is why Ômicron is having a party in Brazil as well”, says Hallal.
The country recorded 298,408 infections by the coronavirus and 1,041 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to a survey by the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass), this Thursday (3).
With the new data, Brazil has surpassed 26 million cases since the beginning of the pandemic, reaching 26,091,520. In total, there are 630,001 deaths from the disease.
The end of the pandemic, for Hallal, follows a great scientific question: what will emerge after the Ômicron variant? There is already a record of a subvariant of Ômicron, called BA.2, identified so far in at least 49 countries, including the United States.
“When the Ômicron wave ends, what will continue to circulate? There is no doubt that new variants are emerging, because the virus is circulating like never before in history. Will these new variants break the vaccine or will they be more aggressive? That’s the doubt. Depending on that response, we will know how much closer we are to the end of the pandemic.”
“But it is always good to remember: the more people vaccinated, the closer we will be to the end of the pandemic. Ômicron, in some places, caused much less deaths, and these places are starting to work with the idea of the end of the pandemic, Denmark was an example this week”, concludes Hallal.
Source: CNN Brasil
