'Winter surges may become the norm': UW researchers say COVID-19 could spike seasonally
As optimism about the COVID-19 vaccine roll out spreads and more people become eligible to receive the vaccine, global health and disease experts from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) are cautioning that the virus may have seasonal spikes in the future much like influenza.
In a journal article published last week, IHME Director Christopher J.L. Murray and Peter Piot, director of The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, discussed the future of the pandemic, predicting that virus deaths and hospitalizations would decrease by early summer 2021 due to ongoing vaccination efforts.
However, the researchers also warned that the emergence of new strains and overall challenges in achieving herd immunity could allow COVID-19 to "persist and become a recurrent seasonal disease."
"The likelihood of achieving herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is low simply because not all individuals in the U.S. are eligible to be vaccinated and a quarter of eligible individuals will likely decline to be immunized," wrote the researchers. "Moreover, the vaccines do not provide full immunity against infection, and the currently available vaccines are less effective against variant B.1.351, and possibly other variants."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/winter-surges-may-become-the-norm-uw-researchers-say-covid-19-could-spike-seasonally/ar-BB1epZrc?ocid=hplocalnews
