We have been living with the pandemic for almost 2 years. Now we know the disease better. We know that it can be both an acute and chronic disease, it is transmitted in the most comfortable indoor spaces, masks prevent contamination, and our vaccines create a strong resistance against the disease. We know that we have to live with this disease, and even that we will live for a while.
Covid-19 vaccines were made primarily to prevent severe infections. They are very successful at this. But we thought they would achieve more, albeit for a few months. Initial clinical trials had given us hope that the vaccine prevented all symptomatic cases, and we thought they would be as successful as the measles or polio vaccines.
However, the fact that vaccinated people can still transmit the virus, albeit slightly, and that new variants can sometimes escape immunity from the vaccine; showed us that the road ahead is longer in the fight against the disease.
That's why we will still need to pay attention to mask, distance and hygiene rules and better ventilate indoors in this pandemic winter. The best way we can control the virus right now is vaccination, and the more people in the community are vaccinated, the more effective the virus will be. We have already seen how useful the vaccine can be: No matter how much the number of Covid cases escalated, hospitalization and death rates were never the same again. The more people we can persuade to get vaccinated, the easier and faster this process will be.
