Opinion – Julio Abramczyk: The pandemic under control

We must thank the national infectious disease doctors who faced government denialists for being each day closer to total control of the pandemic by Covid-19.

According to data from the USP–Covid Epidemiological Bulletin, published by Jornal da USP, more than 93% of the population of the state of São Paulo over 5 years of age has already been vaccinated against Covid-19. Also, more than half (53%) of children up to 11 years old have already been vaccinated and in the adult population, about two thirds have already received the booster dose.

We currently have several efficient vaccines and drugs have recently emerged that actually treat and control the spread of the virus.

Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency), respectively for the United States and Brazil, temporarily authorized Paxlovid for emergency use for oral antiviral treatment within the first five days of symptom onset.

This antiviral prevents Sars-CoV-2 from multiplying within the human body.

However, it cannot be administered to patients with severe kidney or liver disease, or with other drugs such as amiodarone (antiarrhythmic), colchicine (for gout) or statins, used to control cholesterol.

There are other authorized antivirals such as Veklury (remdesivir) used for hospitalized patients and several more will emerge in the coming months.

At the moment, what has been most frequently observed is that most people with Covid-19 have mild symptoms and can recover in their own home.

But preventive measures, such as face mask, washing hands and avoiding agglomerations, remain.