It is said that the White House has been warned by experts that there is a possibility that a mutant virus of Corona 19 such as Omicron may occur within the next two years.
According to foreign media such as the Washington Post (WP) on the 5th (local time), American infectious disease experts warned the White House that there is about a 20% chance of developing a mutant virus comparable to the Corona 19 omicron mutation within two years.
This information came from a meeting where White House officials discussed the possibility of a mutant virus with 12 major experts, including virology and immunobiology. This was held ahead of the end of the Corona 19 emergency on the 11th.
There are currently fewer than 80,000 confirmed cases of the virus across the United States, the lowest since the outbreak began. However, the infection rate for high-risk groups such as the elderly is still fatal, and most of the infections that have occurred in the United States since December 2021 have been caused by mutations such as Omicron, the WP explained.
Trevor Bedford, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center who conducted a new statistical analysis related to the Corona 19 virus, told the WP, “There is a 40% chance of transmission of the same size as Omicron between today and May 2025.”
Professor Dan Barouchi at Harvard Medical School said, “No one says 0% or 80%” about the probability of occurrence of a mutation, “It is higher than a very low probability, and it is never certain.”
Senior public health officials have publicly stressed that even as the end of COVID-19 reduces political will and funding, additional measures are needed to prepare for the threat of the mutant virus.
“One of the biggest concerns is that we’re wasting time not preparing for the next pandemic,” Don O’Connell, undersecretary of health and human services, told the Senate last week.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the end of the Corona 19 pandemic the day before, but said, “It does not mean that the threat of Corona 19 is over.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.