Concern among experts about the appearance of covid variants that force the search for new vaccines

The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) has ruled out that the increase in cases in China will affect the epidemiological situation in Europe, mainly due to the high immunity of the European population since no new variants have been produced. But one thing is that, right now, there are no signs of returning to painful situations like those experienced in 2020 or 2021 and another, that infections in Europe will not increase. What is most worrying at the moment is the mutations. Salvador Macipmember of the covid-19 scientific advisory committee of the Catalan Health Department, acknowledges that among the experts and health authorities there are “concern” why do they appear new variants.

“We must watch that the virus mutates and a variant emerges that forces us to search for new vaccines and have to re-immunize to the entire population”, he says. For now, it is something that has not happened and, in fact, the new variants that are appearing, such as XBB.1.5 (omicron sublinage, from the US and more contagious), are not assuming an “immediate problem.” “So far there have been several bad-looking variants, but most don’t end up dominating. What you have to watch is if they end up dominating; At the moment, it’s not a problem,” he says.

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Macip assumes that, despite the controls of travelers from China (Spain requires a negative test from everyone, even if they are vaccinated, but not other European countries, such as Belgium), there will also be an increase in cases in Europe because, in a globalized world, it is impossible to put a stop to the virus. For this reason, he advocates increasing the vaccination rate of the fourth doses, which can still be greatly improved (in Catalonia, for example, only 55% of those over 65 have it).

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The vaccine, remember, is the only way to avoid serious disease. He acknowledges that the covid-19 scientific advisory committee is “concerned” about the Catalan health system, which is already “a bit on the edge” after waves first of bronchiolitis and then flu. “If the covid comes strong, hospitals can be saturated,” she warns. Even so, he insists that no type of restriction is foreseen in this regard.

“We are in a moment of tense surveillance, see what happens. There are, at this time, no reason to take any action besides encouraging vaccination. But, at the same time, there is nothing more urgent right now,” insists Macip. “We are in this surveillance phase, to see where things are going.” He regrets that the Spanish population has “relaxed” with the fourth doses, something that he attributes to the fact that people think that the pandemic “is over”, when it is not.

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