By: Bill Kopsky, Executive Director
I’ve heard a dangerous sentiment from several people lately: that we should just embrace getting Omicron because we are all going to get COVID eventually. The thinking is that at least Omicron is less severe and that catching it will protect them from future COVID infections. While I understand the exhaustion and fatalism in this thought, it is false on a number of fronts.
Omicron is still very dangerous. New variants down the road are likely to be even less severe while our medical treatments will improve. Catching COVID once does not give you any guarantees you won’t catch it again. You are a hazard to all around you when you catch COVID. And as exhausted as we all are, this Omicron crisis is likely to pass quickly if we take protective measures now. Here is that in more detail:
First, while it appears that Omicron is less severe, it still sucks. Many vaccinated and boosted people are still getting quite sick with a high fever for days. Unvaccinated people are getting extremely sick. The risk of long COVID, which has long term health implications, is still unknown from Omicron. And with the massive number of infections now occurring, hospitals are getting overwhelmed. Even if the percentage of people needing hospitalization is lower with Omicron, a small percentage of a very large number is still a big enough number to overwhelm our medical system.
Second, the longer you hold off catching COVID, the safer you will be. This is for two key reasons. While Omicron does appear to be less severe, this is the way new endemic viruses evolve and future variants are likely to be increasingly less lethal. Second, our medical treatments for infections are improving rapidly. This disease is so new, we are just coming online with effective medications to treat it, and those medications are in such short supply right now that you are unlikely to get them. In the future we will have time to build up supplies of those treatments, and develop even more effective ones. And vaccines are continuing to improve as well — Pfizer claims to have a booster specific to Omicron in the pipeline already with an expected release this Spring.
Third, catching COVID does not appear to give you substantial natural immunity from catching it again. This is not a one-and-done disease like Chicken Pox. In fact, that natural immunity from catching COVID appears to wane rapidly, within months. The immunity from vaccines appears to last longer. So do not think, if I catch Omicron I may be more protected from a future strain. In fact you may be setting yourself for having COVID now, AND having it again later.
Fourth, you become a health hazard to others when you catch COVID. You will likely be contagious to others for 1-2 days before you show any symptoms. You will likely come into contact with unvaccinated people (remember anyone under 5 is unvaccinated still) and immune compromised people in that time unless you are already socially isolating yourself. And it’s worth repeating that our hospitals are overwhelmed already - people are dying from other diseases because the hospitals are so full of COVID patients there’s no room for people with other life-threatening conditions.
Finally, this Omicron wave is likely to pass quickly if we take precautionary measures now. I know we’re all exhausted. I’m exhausted. But this is not likely to be a surge of infections that lasts months. Data from other countries indicates the Omicron wave will die down within weeks. We need to be extra cautious for a few weeks so we can get past the peak surge and then get back to more normal activities sooner.
Remember: your best protections are to practice social distancing and avoid crowded places, wear a quality mask, get vaccinated and get boosted. Please protect yourselves and your community.
Bill Kopsky is the executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and can be reached by email at bill@arpanel.org