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It’s hard to predict what the Carnival of 2022 will be like, says infectologist about Ômicron

Ômicron, a new variant of Covid-19, threatens the cooling process of the pandemic in Brazil. In this context, major events expected by the end of this year and for the Carnival of 2022 could be impacted, warns infectious diseases specialist Julio Croda, a researcher at Fiocruz do Mato Grosso do Sul.

“It’s very difficult to predict what Carnival will be like next year, the pandemic is so dynamic that we’re not sure about much, but it’s good to be alert, this whole situation worries us.”

The biggest challenge is due to vaccination coverage, which, the researcher emphasizes, is not homogeneous throughout Brazil.

“We have high coverage in the city of Rio de Janeiro, but this does not happen in Rio de Janeiro cities as a whole. We have several states in the North and Northeast that have not reached 70% or 80% vaccination coverage. So, a more transmissible variant in places with low coverage, in mass events, may be responsible for the resumption of the pandemic’s growth.”

The infectologist considers it “premature” to say that there will be Carnival and analyzes that vaccination in Brazil has stagnated.

“We are not managing to increase our coverage, an event like this, which is an agglomeration of thousands of people, is associated, yes, with more transmission, more increase in hospitalization and death.”

Julio Croda also said that there is a possibility that the variant is already here. “We never had a very detailed control of travelers, we didn’t require the vaccination passport that several countries have already issued, we didn’t require the test 72 hours before”, he points out.

“The chance of a new variant being circulating in Brazil is quite high, the more we contain the introduction in Brazil in several cities, and the more we advance in our vaccination, the spread of Ômicron will have less impact.”

In addition, he highlights the need for vaccination against Covid-19 to be authorized for children, as it will help to intensify collective immunity. “Maybe this warning from Ômicron will help us to increase our vaccine coverage”, he believes.

Julio Croda also spoke about the importance of equalizing the supply of vaccine in all countries in the world. “The vaccine prevents the emergence of new variants and it is only through the vaccination of the entire planet that we control the risk.”

Reference: CNN Brasil

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