#BTColumn – Omicron: How we can fight back

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY. 

by Dr. Colin V. Alert

Many people are alarmed, or should be, by the number of persons who test positive for  COVID-19 infections, whenever we get news of the daily COVID dashboard.

Over the last two weeks we have heard daily numbers of around 600 persons testing positive, and we have almost 12 000 persons in self-quarantine. One or two people die from COVID daily.

In the early days of this pandemic, almost two years ago, the available measures for protection involved the 3Ws – Wash your hands, Wear your mask, Watch your distance, i.e. maintain your social distance, especially in indoor and/or crowded areas.

Such was the power of the virus that, even with these measures in place, we were forced to have a national lockdown. And while the national income fell, we were forced to divert scarce resources to new health facilities and health-related personnel.

About one year ago we were offered anti-COVID vaccines by our government, to add to the other personal protective measures that persons should continue to use to slow or prevent the spread of COVID-19

According to the WHO, anti-COVID vaccines are being extensively studied, and are incredibly effective in preventing severe disease and death. However, there is no guarantee that they will completely prevent infection or that they will completely prevent onward transmission.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons including specific financial agendas, political agendas, mis-information, loud voices from anti-vaxxers and other reasons, the airways and social media have been flooded with reasons why persons should refuse to take the vaccine.

A few people have claimed to believe in the vaccine, but have refused to take it because they were against mandates. This has created an environment of confusion.  So many persons have chosen not to take the vaccine, making it very difficult for the country to achieve herd immunity, one possible way of ending the pandemic.

When the new variant omicron appeared, the most common description was that it “was more contagious, but less deadly than the delta variant” which was the dominant strain at the time. Both parts of this message seemto be correct.

Today, the large number of persons contracting the virus, including both unvaccinated and vaccinated, confirms the “more contagious” description of the variant. Very large numbers of persons are contracting COVID.

But the unvaccinated were far more likely to become seriously ill, more likely to need full scale isolation or hospitalisation, and more likely to die.

They were also more likely to spread the virus: if they spread it to unvaccinated persons, such as young children for whom the vaccine is not yet approved, or elderly persons with co-morbidities like obesity, diabetes and hypertension, then these persons are at increased risk of contracting the disease, and even dying.

Even though the omicron variant is “less deadly” than the delta variant, that does not mean that it is not deadly at all. Our daily 1-2 deaths confirm that it is deadly, especially in a population with a high prevalence of co-morbidities.

Our current ‘best protection’ tweaks’ the earlier message:

• Wash your hands

• Wear your masks: now, a better mask than the cloth mask and/or the surgical mask is the current recommendation. A K95, a KN95, or even double masking (surgical mask plus cloth mask) are currently recommended.

The KN95 or the K95 masks are more costly than the surgical mask, but they can be cleaned and reused. Each person should have a few masks, and rotate them, as long as the seal remains intact.

There is no technical data on this in our part of the world, but in countries with cooler climates (and hence more indoor activity) a mask can last 3-4 weeks.

• Watch your distance

• Get your vaccine. When the delta variant was the main one in circulation, two doses of vaccine (or one dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine) was the recommendation. However, with each individual’s immunity declining over time, and with a new contagious variant terrorising the population, a booster dose boosted the protection (compared to two doses). So, get your booster as soon as you can.

There are still a few persons around who believe that omicron is “just like the flu”, and refuse the vaccine because they say “it can’t kill me”.

But remaining unvaccinated means that they may make an elderly relative, or a young child, very sick, precisely at the time when our health services are stretched to the limit (even without a nurses’ strike).

Remaining unvaccinated may mean your co-workers are compelled to home quarantine, closing (or severely restricting) all business. When businesses can’t make money, everybody suffers. We can’t afford to close businesses again.

What can we do to fight back? How can we brace ourselves for the next COVID variant, whether it is more or less deadly, whether it is more or less contagious? Make sure you get all the vaccines available to you, and encourage friends and family to get their shots and follow the 3Ws.

Dr. Colin V. Alert, MB BS, DM. is a family physician and associate UWI family medicine lecturer.