Fiocruz study: Vaccination key to curbing pandemic

Nearly two years into the pandemic, COVID-19 still challenges the world with a worrying scenario marked by an extremely transmissible Omicron variant, with efforts to keep it in check hinged greatly around vaccination. The conclusion was drawn by researchers at the COVID-19 Observatory of Brazil’s state-run research foundation Fiocruz. A report was released today (Feb. 9) on the two years of a sanitary emergency that has claimed 5.71 million lives globally and over 630 thousand in Brazil.

Since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in China, back in 2019, the novel coronavirus has infected 388 million people across the world and 26 million in Brazil. The country concentrates 6.7 percent of the globe’s total case tally and 11 percent of the total number of fatalities, despite Brazilians making up less than three percent of the global population.

The World Health Organization on January 30, 2020, declared that COVID-19 was a public health emergency of international concern, and classified the spread of the disease as a pandemic, as it had been detected across all continents on March 11. At the time, the illness had reached 114 countries and caused the demise of 4.2 thousand people. In Brazil, the Ministry of Health recognized the issue as a public health emergency of national concern on February 3.

Window of opportunity

The scientists note that the other prevention measures should be kept uninterrupted, but argue that reaching a wide vaccine coverage at this point may actually block the circulation of the virus. In addition, since cases have skyrocketed as a result of the Omicron variant, a massive number of people have recently had COVID-19 and received temporary immunity against Sars-CoV-2.

The study therefore recommends four public health strategies: ensuring people have access to the inoculation, with working hours expanded at vaccination facilities and the installation mobile stations; actively looking for people who are yet to start their vaccine scheme; increasing the scope of the campaign to encourage the vaccination of children; and underscoring the benefits of appropriate hygiene and mask use.

Endemic

In the document, the scientists state that the sweeping wave of cases brought by the Omicron variant—70 times as transmissible as Delta—has triggered speculations on a possible end to the pandemic. Some countries and health agencies have either discussed or introduced changes as part of a transition towards an endemic—where COVID-19 is viewed as a disease present in people’s everyday lives.

This, however, does not mean the end of individual or collective protection measures, the study reports. “Classifying the disease as ‘endemic’ would imply social practices and health assistance incorporated into citizens’ everyday lives and services, and could only be considered after a drastic reduction in the transmission of new variants and through a vaccination campaign on a global scale,” the text reads.

Stocktaking

In its two-year rundown, Fiocruz describes each phase of the pandemic in Brazil. The spread of the disease in the country, in addition to leading to the deaths of thousands and overloading health care, has led to a combination of social and economic effects that sharpen society’s structural inequalities, the experts point out.

The present stage, referred to as the third wave, is said to have started in December 2021, and coincided with an Influenza A epidemic across a wide number of Brazilian cities, coupled with the holiday season and vacations, the relaxing of restrictive strategies, and the introduction of the Omicron variant into the country.

“Even though vaccination has prevented hospitalizations and deaths from rising as sharply as the case tally, the sudden spike in the amount of sick people inevitably boosts the demand for health care services, significantly impacting the nation’s ICU occupancy rates,” the researchers affirm.

As it stands today, hospitalization is more common among elders, but has also reached alarming rates among children. “As this is the last group recommended for vaccination, back in 2022, kids today are the most vulnerable group,” Fiocruz declares.