CDC: COVID-19
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that while the Omicron variant is still highly contagious, experts don’t think it’s inevitable that everyone will get COVID at some point.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated that around 43% of people in the U.S., or about 140 million people, have been infected with the coronavirus, which leaves almost 60% never having had it. The estimate counts each person once, so some of the more than 140 million Americans estimated to have had COVID may have been infected more than once.
University of California in San Francisco Chair of Medicine Dr. Bob Wachter said when case rates are low, those who have not had COVID are unlikely to get it “since they won’t be exposed very much.”
Those who are vaccinated and boosted, he added, “will remain relatively protected even if they do get exposed.”
Experts also said there are benefits to avoiding infection for now, even if it’s possible you contract the coronavirus later. They said the longer the pandemic goes on, the more we understand about the virus, which means that treatments are likely to be better and more accessible.
While there are no guarantees in a pandemic, experts said, the most important thing is for people to start finding ways to return to life while staying flexible as the virus continues to fluctuate.
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