We could all use a little bit of hope these days: Dr. Charles Prober offers his optimistic view of the road ahead even in the midst of the current Omicron surge because of 3 factors:
1. Vaccine distribution continues to expand around the world, and vaccines continue to provide protection against severe COVID infections
2. COVID disease caused by the Omicron variant is substantially less severe than that caused by earlier variants of the virus
3. Immunity: Soon, a large proportion of the population will have some degree of immunity
“My bottom line is that the pandemic is likely to retreat soon, but in the meantime, let’s try to limit severe infections and unnecessary deaths.” – Charles Prober
Dr. Charles Prober is the Senior Associate Vice Provost for Health Education at Stanford University and Founding Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Health Education. He is a Professor of Pediatrics, Microbiology and Immunology. He is an expert in pediatric infectious diseases with an academic career focused on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of infections in children.
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