Percolating virus

Call it bizarre, the prognosis of an international epidemiologist that the emergence of the highly mutated Omicron variant of Covid-19 may actually hasten the achievement of herd immunity by nations against the virus.

The expert’s premise was that since Omicron is highly transmissible but primarily results in mild infections, more people being hit by the new “variant of concern” may result in them developing natural immunity to Covid-19.

Simplistic as the proposition was, its underlying rationale was more so — that it’s better to be infected with Omicron than with the deadlier variants like the original strain from Wuhan, China, or by Delta.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report may bolster this view in that it said no death — as of this writing — has yet been traced from Omicron, and that Delta remains to be the variant that countries must contend with.

Herd immunity through runaway Omicron infections?

That’s hoping against hope since the probability of reinfections is high with Omicron, according to the experts. Likewise, data on Covid-19, in general, have shown that many people have had repeat infections with this virus.

So, out the window must go that thinking that natural immunity can even be achieved against Covid-19, whether with Omicron, Delta, or whatever strains have come before them or will come after.

This is more so with the reality that, at best, the many vaccines that had been developed against Covid-19 do not really give people immunity, but only bolster the survivability of those infected.

If Omicron is less deadly than the other variants despite its high transmissibility, then we just have to look at that silver lining gilding these dark clouds still shrouding the horizon.

But what if Omicron had been as deadly as it is easily transmitted? Scary thoughts, really.

Omicron should serve as a wake-up call for humanity that the vaccine inequity, resulting in many poor nations having vaccination levels at less than seven percent, must stop right now.

There’s no point for the vaccine hoarders to get their population fully vaccinated against the known variants of Covid-19 if the virus is allowed to percolate and mutate in poor countries where the majority of people had been deprived of access to the vaccines.

It’s an interconnected world we live in and countries cannot forever impose border controls to stop the entry of diseases like Covid-19. The only way to beat this virus and end this pandemic is to get mankind to achieve herd immunity.

Herd immunity by countries would not do it because that immunity can easily be shattered by the new variants that people bring in from one country to another.

Our own health experts are right that insofar as Omicron reaching our shores, it may just be a matter of when and, with that mindset, we should prepare for the worst.

Again, credit goes where it should be that vaccines have continued to come into our country, allowing us to vaccinate target populations as fast as the jabs could come, including those already receiving booster shots.

Yes, the government has again made mandatory the facility-based, 14-day quarantine for those coming from abroad. That’s more than justified — a policy that errs on the side of caution.

Even so, we are crossing our fingers as three of the 71 who came in from Africa before the travel ban was imposed on the region have tested positive for Covid-19.

Let’s hope those are not Omicron cases.

Likewise, let’s turn that extended grand national vaccination drive into a monthlong effort. If we can vaccinate eight million people in three days, there’s no reason we cannot achieve herd immunity — through mass vaccination — before 2021 takes a bow.

“We are crossing our fingers as three of the 71 who came in from Africa before the travel ban was imposed on the region have tested positive for Covid-19. Let’s hope those are not Omicron cases.

“Data on Covid-19, in general, have shown that many people have had repeat infections with this virus.