“The northern hemisphere countries we know best are at different stages of a pandemic, and the UK is probably the closest thing to getting out of a pandemic if not already out of a pandemic and the disease is now endemic,” he said. during an event at the British research institute Chatham House, where he is a researcher.
Heymann referred to the UK Statistical Office’s ONS report on population immunity, which estimated that “about 95% of the population in England and slightly less in other parts of the UK have antibodies either from vaccinations or from natural infection. “”.
One sign is the lesser-than-expected impact of the Ómicron option on a country where the British government has resisted introducing additional containment measures in England beyond the use of masks in most closed public places, telecommuting and the introduction of a sanitary pass. and also to accelerate revaccination.
“These antibodies control a virus that now looks more like an endemic coronavirus than a pandemic. People who become seriously ill are those who have not previously had an infection or [não] were vaccinated, ”explained a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Heymann believes the UK is also the country that has adapted best to “living with the virus”, where people “self-assess the risks,” such as using self-testing to detect infection or before events. Transmission.
This strategy has supported the food and entertainment sector in England in recent weeks, although Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have imposed restrictions on the number of people who can join, closed football matches and the closure of nightclubs.
“The UK has been living with the virus since late summer (…) which means people are vaccinated or ready to be vaccinated and vaccines are available and people are protecting others indoors with masks even if they have been vaccinated because they can be infected after vaccination, ”he stressed.
He added that another important measure to help the authorities make decisions is the constant monitoring of admissions and occupancy of intensive care units, which the United Kingdom must “detect when something goes wrong.”
According to Heymann, who was in charge of the infectious diseases division of the World Health Organization, the next step will be to develop “rules along the way” to learn how to live with the virus, as is currently the case with diseases such as tuberculosis or AIDS. . took part in smallpox and polio control programs.
“We just need to learn to make our own assessment of this infection and hope that in the end, in the next few years [a covid-19] is becoming an endemic coronavirus, like the other four coronaviruses, and is kept under control either through population immunity or because the virus itself has become less virulent, ”he said.
UK Education Secretary Nadhim Zahavi said on Sunday in statements to Sky News that the UK should be one of the first countries to “show the world how the transition from pandemic to endemic is progressing,” and acknowledged, for example, to shorten the isolation period. to reduce the impact of employee accidents in essential services.
