The toothpaste is out of the tube — the cat is out of the bag. However you want to say it, it appears that at this point, COVID-19 is here to stay.
"COVID-19 is likely now endemic," said Dr. Jennifer Clark.
Dr. Clark is a contributor for Oklahoma State University's Project Echo on COVID, which keeps doctors up to speed with the latest on the ever-evolving virus.
"Early on in the disease process, particularly as the vaccines were rolling out in December and January, with the effectiveness and the efficiency that we started with, there was a potential for us as a species to eradicate COVID-19. We had a window, and we missed it," she said.
A grim diagnosis, but one that has a basis in history and reality.
"We've had the flu around for centuries and we're still combating that guy right. You can only imagine, this is the beginning of the story for COVID-19," said Dr. Clark.
But it won't always be this bad if we do the right things, like washing hands, getting the vaccine, masking and distancing when necessary, and more.
"It's that swiss cheese model that each one of these layers has a hole in it and needs another layer with a different hole. The stacking, again of early, layered sustained intervention is going to move us from this acute phase of the pandemic."
Dr. Clark is also calling on employees and students to use their sick time when they have any symptoms, and companies need to be ready to accommodate.
"We need to flip that social norm to say it's okay if you're symptomatic to stay home. We have a testing strategy for you and if you test positive it's okay, you're not going to be harmed if you need to isolate or quarantine," she said.
By denying the virus any opportunity to spread and mutate, we can push through the pandemic phase and into the endemic phase.
We're not there yet, but Oklahoma doctors want to be ready when that time comes to keep the virus at bay as much as possible.