Opinion – Julio Abramczyk: The pandemic continues

With the necessary advance notice, the director general of the WHO (World Health Organization), Tedros A. Ghebreyesus, reiterates that vaccines — all vaccines — “save lives but do not completely prevent the transmission of Covid-19”.

He also emphasizes that the application of the vaccine results in a lower risk for the population to develop a severe disease or even to die. However, the danger of being infected and transmitting the virus remains.

As vaccination does not completely prevent transmission, the delta variant is currently dominant in the world, according to the WHO weekly epidemiological report.

With common sense, many mayors of municipalities in the state of São Paulo decided not to schedule carnival festivities in 2022. At the end of the year, it would also be convenient to restrict social gatherings similar to the pre-pandemic period.

In Europe, where more than 60% of cases and deaths from the delta variant were recorded, it ended up with a lot of celebration.

In the State of Israel, which led the mass application of its population to the first signs of the pandemic, experts point out that vaccine immunity has been decreasing, signaling an eventual fifth wave, according to statements to the local press.

For Professor Eran Segal, from the Weizmann Institute, the drop in the level of immunity months after vaccination can be observed by the consequent increase in the number of cases. In addition to diminishing immunity among the general public, there is the danger of easing restrictions and increasing infection among children.

In the same way as in the United States and Brazil, a large part of the population of Israel has not received a booster dose of the vaccine, which shows the continuity of the pandemic.