Opinion – Pedro Hallal: How to face year 3 of the pandemic?

Brazil is entering the third (and hopefully the last) year of the Covid-19 pandemic, as, effectively, March 2020 was the starting point of the pandemic in Brazil. During a pandemic, the situation is dynamic and, consequently, priorities and recommendations must adapt to the moment of the pandemic.

In the first year, the priority should have been to contain the spread of the virus, through social distancing policies, while at the same time making (a) heavy investments in testing, contact tracing and isolation of suspected cases; (b) sanitary cordons to isolate high contagion regions; (c) preparing health services to deal with patients with Covid-19; (d) wide production, dissemination of importance and distribution of masks for use by the population; (e) science race for the development of vaccines and medicines to face the coronavirus.

In the second year, the priority should have been the acceleration of vaccination and its recognition as the main strategy to face Covid-19. At the same time, the “ad” strategies listed above should be consolidated, ensuring a safe resumption of daily activities.

Unfortunately, Brazil was an example of how not to act in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the honorable exception of vaccination, which did not fail due to the long vaccination culture of the Brazilian population, the other measures were boycotted, one by one, by the political and health authorities of the country.

As we reach the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the question remains:

How to face the year 3 of the pandemic?

This year’s priority is to safely resume normal life.

It is unreasonable to imagine that some economic activities will be closed in the year 2022.

It is unreasonable to imagine that children will be out of school in the year 2022.

It is unreasonable to imagine that universities will maintain remote learning in 2022.

It is unreasonable to imagine that sporting, cultural and artistic events will be virtual or without an audience in the year 2022.

There has already been enough preparation time to ensure that, even in the event of new variants and new waves, activities remain open, with safe protocols.