Is it time to consider COVID-19 an endemic disease?

This assessment was made by Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, former head of the Department of Infection – Neurology at the Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, before the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the Omicron variant predominating.

Discussing the matter with a VOV reporter, Dr. Khanh said that the Omicron variant has eased the severity of COVID-19 and stressed that the sub-variant of Omicron, BA.2, did not have a severe impact like BA.1.

“The BA.3 variant has indeed appeared, but the biology and transmissibility are not exceptional so this is not a problem. With the pandemic evolution being the dominant Omicron variant, COVID-19 can be considered an endemic disease when the possibility of severe disease progression is not much," analysed Dr. Khanh.

The Omicron variant's BA.2 sub-variant is being called the "stealth variant". This can be understood because this sub-variant has a genetic defect, meaning PCR testing does not detect it and the test may provide negative results in the initial three days. There remains a certain percentage of people infected with the Delta variant, meaning that people should not neglect pandemic control measures, although he went on to add this is not an area of huge concern.

According to statistics, since the beginning of March sub-variants of Omicron have shown quick infection ability in recent times in provinces nationwide, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while gradually replacing the Delta strain as the dominant variant.

In Hanoi, variants of Omicron were recorded in 20 out of 30 districts, in which BA.2 accounted for 87% of the total number of samples detected with Omicron infection. Meanwhile, evaluated by random screening in Ho Chi Minh City, "Omicron Stealth BA.2" made up for 64% of infections.

Globally, the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron accounted for roughly 86% of COVID-19 infections recorded between February 16 and March 17. This is the cause of the current wave of infections in Europe. Although more contagious than the parent strain, BA.2 fails to cause more severe illness and currently-available vaccines are still effective against this variant.

Furthermore, according to recent studies, the primary vaccination and booster injection remain the best protection against the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

Those who have "mixed" immunity from the vaccine and immunity from a previous infection could reduce the risk of re-infection by 55%.

Studies done in Denmark, where the most cases of the BA.2 variant have been found in the world, after sequencing the gene have found that people who have been infected with BA.1 will rarely be re-infected with the BA.2 variant.

Studying data taken from more than 1.8 million cases over a three-month period from November, 2021, to February, scientists found only 47 cases were re-infected with the BA.2 variant after previously getting the BA.1 strain, with most being unvaccinated.

Assessing the infection evolution of the Omicron variant, domestic and foreign experts both said that BA.2 is more infectious than BA.1, with severe cases and deaths being markedly lower. This demonstrates the immunity of the human body to the appearance of any sub-variants.