Will Covid-19 Variants Derail Global Pandemic Control Efforts?

Susan Michie, Chris Bullen, et al, The Conversation: New COVID variants have changed the game, and vaccines will not be enough. We need global ‘maximum suppression’ 

New variants of concern have changed the game, spreading worldwide and threatening to derail pandemic control efforts 

At the end of 2020, there was a strong hope that high levels of vaccination would see humanity finally gain the upper hand over Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. In an ideal scenario, the virus would then be contained at very low levels without further societal disruption or significant numbers of deaths. 

But since then, new “variants of concern” have emerged and spread worldwide, putting current pandemic control efforts, including vaccination, at risk of being derailed. 

Put simply, the game has changed, and a successful global rollout of current vaccines by itself is no longer a guarantee of victory. 

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WNU Editor: All pandemics eventually burn themselves out. I expect the same with the current Covid-19 outbreak. But people's expectations that this will be over by this year are probably premature.