How experts will spend another year-end of Covid

Have you ever imagined a Covid-free year-end? Unfortunately, it won’t be this Christmas and New Year. But, at the same time, the situation is better than at the 2020 parties and it is possible to meet family and friends for small meetings. Small, reinforce the experts.

As a sort of pandemic holiday/year-end tradition, the leaf asked experts how they will spend the end of this year and what is safe and not to do.

And the answer was a little different from that of 2020, when most said they would stay at home, with only people they live with on a daily basis.

In 2021, yes, it can bring together loved ones. But safety points must be taken into account. You are free to find yourself, but you need to calm down because the pandemic is not over.

In Brazil, moving averages of deaths and cases have generally remained stable, with recent decreases leading to less than 200 lives lost per day. But several states have been pointing out difficulties in recording data on deaths, infections and vaccines, since a cyber attack affected the Ministry of Health’s system, on the 10th of this month. The situation so far has not been normalized.

Vaccination has performed well in the country, with more than 87% of the adult population already having completed the primary vaccination schedule.

The problem at the moment, however, is called an omicron.

The variant, already with community transmission in São Paulo, has spread to several countries and has been causing record cases in nations, such as the United Kingdom.

“There may indeed be an increase in cases”, says Margareth Dalcolmo, a researcher at Fiocruz.

Now that you’ve remembered the context, start the rules for your end of the year to be safer.

First rule: vaccines

The federal government does not want to charge a passport for the vaccine, but you, at home, can demand it. The specialists consulted by the leaf they are unanimous on this point: the end of the year meeting only with those who are vaccinated.

After all, as much as there is a decrease in the effectiveness of vaccines against omicrons, the vaccine escape is not total. So, immunizers still offer protection.

“The ideal is that people first guarantee themselves with a vaccine: everyone is vaccinated. It is the first great commandment”, says Jean Gorinchteyn, an infectious disease specialist at Hospital Emílio Ribas and Hospital Albert Einstein, and secretary of health for the state of São Paulo.

In addition, with the new strain of Sars-CoV-2, the booster dose that was already being applied in more fragile populations, such as the elderly (due to the possible reduction in the protection of the vaccine after about six months), became an idea. timely for the entire population. That way, it’s even better if the participants in your celebration (small, it’s always worth remembering) are reinforced, says Dalcolmo.

Second rule: tests

Experts heard claim that tests before the meeting offer an extra layer of security.

Vitor Mori, physicist and researcher at the University of Vermont (USA), says that he will spend the festivities with few people (two families) in Boston, the city to which he will have to travel.

“Five days before traveling to Boston, we will stay at home more, work from home, if we have to go out, always wearing a PFF2 mask. And we intend to carry out antigen tests at home”, says the researcher. “So, every day, we’ll do a quick antigen test to make sure we’re not going to be infected the day of the trip.”

The ideal, according to experts, is to take the test relatively close to the time of the meeting, at least 24 hours or on the day of the meeting. “We know that these rapid antigen tests are very good at detecting higher viral loads, which indicate times when you have the greatest potential for transmission,” says Mori.

“If I have people who are vaccinated, asymptomatic, tested and negative, I think it is enough for us to have a responsible fellowship”, says infectologist Rosana Richtmann, from Instituto Emílio Ribas, who is going to bring her family together this year, on the contrary of what happened last year.

Third rule: masks and ventilated areas

Vaccines, tests and still need a mask? Well, it’s better to insure than having to deal with problems later.

The remoteness that the pandemic has caused makes Christmas a risky situation, says Gorinchteyn. “People are very excited for this moment of celebration. And celebrating means laughing, toasting, eating, hugging and maybe they forget a little bit about the masks. That could be a problem.”

But, of course, says Mori, this is a time when adhering to the masks ends up being difficult, mainly because of the end-of-the-year events that traditionally take place around tables with food.

And that is where the importance of the get-together being held in an open or well-ventilated environment comes into play.

“No big party, with crowds of people, party in a club, closed place, with everyone dancing together, singing, hugging. That still can’t be done”, says Natalia Pasternak, researcher at USP and president of Instituto Questão de Science.

But even with meetings in well-ventilated places, the mask must still not be forgotten. Did you just eat? Put on the mask. “It’s boring, but at least it’s a guarantee that the celebration continues,” says Gorinchteyn.

The mask becomes even more important when hugging, even outdoors, according to Mori. “At the time of close contact, face-to-face for a prolonged period, which is where we do have the risk of outdoor transmission, it’s worth using a mask,” he says. “And paying close attention to the quality of the mask, preferably a PFF2, and making sure it’s tight to the face.”

According to Richtmann, year-end plans could change if an epidemic of some other easily transmitted virus, such as influenza, occurred. “Knowing that I have more vulnerable people in the family, if in fact we have an epidemic, high circulation and put anyone at risk, I would change my plans,” he says.

The problem is that several states in the country are experiencing an unseasonable epidemic of H3N2 influenza, caused by the Darwin variant, for which the current flu vaccine is not prepared, that is, it has, possibly, little effect against it. One more element to pay attention to.

In addition to all these precautions and taking into account the influenza epidemic —especially if the party has people who are more vulnerable to the disease, such as the elderly and immunosuppressed people—, people who have symptoms, whether or not they have a negative test result for Covid, do not must go to the event.

“Sore throat, runny nose, one more sneeze. Don’t attend”, says Raquel Stucchi, a professor at Unicamp and a consultant at the SBI (Brazilian Society of Infectology).