GET READY TO LEARN SOME MORE GREEK LETTERS. 

SCIENTISTS WARN THAT OMICRON’S MASSIVE SPREAD PRACTICALLY ENSURES IT WON’T BE THE LAST VARIANT FOR US TO WORRY ABOUT. 

EVERY INFECTION IS A CHANCE FOR THE VIRUS TO MUTATE. 

SO WE ASKED OUR MEDICAL EXPERT, CARDIOLOGIST DR. PAYAL KOHLI…. WITH THE COVID PILL COMING OUT SOON, VACCINES, AND HERD IMMUNITY, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF COVID LOOK LIKE?

DR. PAYAL KOHLI, STRAIGHT ARROW MEDICAL EXPERT: “You know despite the advent of the antiviral pill, all the progress that we’ve made with vaccines and herd immunity, most experts have really given up on the idea of eradicating COVID-19 infection altogether. And in fact, this belongs to a family of viruses called the corona viruses which cause colds that have been around for decades. And we know that these viruses come back season after season so I think it’s highly unlikely that we will completely eradicate Coronavirus or COVID-19 infections, but I do think that their rate may go down to a manageable amount.” 

PFIZER ANNOUNCED THEY ARE COMING OUT WITH A VACCINE SPECIFICALLY FOR OMICRON IN MARCH. DOES MANAGING IT MEAN THE START OF A YEARLY VARIANT-SPECIFIC VACCINE LIKE THE FLU SHOT?

DR. PAYAL KOHLI, STRAIGHT ARROW MEDICAL EXPERT: “You know, the beginning of this year has brought a tsunami of cases. But what we’re seeing is that perhaps this is going to usher in going from pandemic to endemic meaning that instead of having the virus control our lives from really going to live alongside the virus just like we do with the flu. And a big piece of that means controlling the spread of the infection. And the way that we do that is by getting a vaccine potentially every year, especially if the virus continues to mutate as it’s done so far, and new variants emerge. So I very much anticipate that we are probably going to need a vaccine every year just like we do with the flu shot. In fact, there are companies that are studying both the flu and the omicron or COVID vaccines in the same shot together.”

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR DR KOHLI ON COVID OR OTHER HEALTH MATTERS, PLEASE ADD THEM TO THE COMMENTS BELOW.