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Last week, a third more outbreaks of COVID-19 were reported. The situation is deteriorating in the manufacturing sector and the number of cases in educational institutions is increasing.
Immunologist Aurelija Žvirblienė said on the “Informative Comments with Arnas Mazėčius” program on Tuesday that we are already seeing the beginning of the fourth wave of the pandemic.
“It just came to our attention then. Now you can even say that the number of hospitalizations has stopped and is not very threatening yet. That wave is probably not as terrible as it was last winter and fall,” said A Žvirblienė.
According to a professor at Vilnius University, vaccines work, which is proven by eloquent statistics.
“The vaccines work against the delta strain, although a little worse than against the original version of the virus. Relapsing people are also likely to have good enough immunity against the delta strain,” said the expert.
A. Žvirblienė said that history shows that pandemic waves are related to the emergence of virus strains.
“These pandemic waves are related precisely to the appearance of new variants of the virus. This was the case, for example, during the flu pandemic 100 years ago, when a highly altered flu virus kept causing a second, third wave, until finally those waves were exhaled simply because a large proportion of people got sick. Now we have a weapon, a vaccine, and this, together with the disease, is likely to reduce the increase, “said the professor.
Aurelija Žvirblienė
Speaking of 90% named by scientists around the world. Indicator of vaccinated population, A. Žvirblienė pointed out that it is not very realistic to achieve this. Even more so when children under 12 years of age are not yet vaccinated against the coronavirus.
“We have examples of this type with other viruses. For example, the circulation of measles stops if the population is vaccinated above 95 percent, but if that percentage drops at least a little, for example to 90%, we already have outbreaks measles.
With other infections this method has been confirmed, but it is unlikely that we will achieve it with coronavirus ”, said the immunologist.
Therefore, according to her, we will have to learn to live with a virus that is becoming an endemic virus that constantly circulates in society.
“The key is to ensure that the virus does not drown the economy, that it does not obstruct patients. We have to learn to live with this virus so that life more or less returns to normal,” emphasized A. Žvirblienė.
The most important thing, as the interlocutor said, is to protect the most vulnerable. As a result, it is valuable to monitor the experience of Israel, where the third dose of the vaccine was introduced for the elderly and vulnerable groups.
“Without a doubt, the third dose stimulates the immune response, which is probably effective. “It will be difficult to say whether it will be a massive booster shot for all age groups,” said the professor.
Vaccines for coronavirus
“Personally, I don’t think we should get vaccinated every year because this virus does not change as strongly as the flu virus. If we have the flu in virtually all other viruses almost every season, then the changes in this virus are not as dramatic and the immunity that has developed, especially in younger people, is likely to last for several years. Maybe after the third dose people will be protected for 2-3 years, but it’s still hard to say, “he continued.
The imminent return of students to educational institutions and the return of students to classrooms, admitted A. Žvirblienė, will undoubtedly increase the number of infections, but according to her, the government is now doing the right thing by assessing the situation no longer by cases but by the number of hospitalizations.
“This is the correct approach, because the main thing is that we do not have such a serious situation in medical institutions as it was last winter, so the whole system does not work only for combat,” said the interlocutor of the program. ” Info Comments with Arnas Mazėčius “.
However, the professor drew attention to the need to expand the ranks of vaccinated older adults.
“It would be good if those over 70 years of age reached a vaccination rate close to 100%. This would definitely reduce the risk of those people needing hospitalizations,” said A. Žvirblienė.
“Perhaps some partial restrictions – discos or sports clubs – can limit their activities, but so far it seems to me that efforts are being made to prevent this from happening,” commented the immunologist about possible new restrictions.
Santara Medical Union Leader: Doctors Are Waiting For Third Dose
Gabija Tomkutė, president of the Santara Clinics Physicians Union, assured that doctors are looking forward to the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Doctors are not being vaccinated yet, they are talking about that, but most doctors have received two vaccines and more than 90 percent. The staff at the Santara clinics are immunized, “said G. Tomkutė.
According to her, all doctors working on the front lines of the coronavirus are waiting for a booster vaccine.
“Now society is divided on the first or second dose of the vaccine, but I think that many of those who have been vaccinated will think about the additional dose that would ensure their safety as the number of cases increases,” said G. Tomkutė.
The doctor said that both she and her colleagues believe that people who work in contact should be vaccinated.
“In this way, we protect not only ourselves, but also our patients, who are a much more sensitive group and at the same time they do not stop services,” emphasized the interlocutor.
It confirmed that a small proportion of patients have not developed immunity due to the disease and that the majority of COVID-19 patients treated in hospitals are not vaccinated at all.
“They are already sick and so seriously ill that we are just treating and rescuing them; we no longer have time to moralize them in any way,” commented G. Tomkutė.
See the “Informative Comments with Arnas Mazėčius” with A. Žvirbliene and G. Tomkutė here.
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