It’s been nearly two years since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Countless lives have been lost and and for many of us, it may seem like there's no end in sight.
From Alpha to Delta, and now Omicron being the most infectious variant to date. The pandemic is sticking around much longer than anybody anticipated.
“We may be done with the virus, but the virus is not done with us,” said Dr. Aruna Arora M.D., M.P.H, President of the Alabama Medical Association.
The longer Covid-19 spreads, the more it mutates.
“The perfect situation for the virus to continue to mutate and change, are when you have bodies of people who are together who are simply not protected,” Arora said.
The only way to stop it. Dr. Aruna Arora said is to get vaccinated. Especially, when there are not enough Covid treatments available.
“Right now, there are so few oral pills compared to the number of cases like not even, not even close,” Arora said.
She said without protection, this virus will continue to win.
“Between the fact that we don’t have treatments and there are so many people who are unvaccinated, and just because of the numbers of cases that we see, the hospital systems are going to be overburdened,” Arora said.
This week nearly half of all Covid-19 tests have come back positive in Alabama. All 67 counties are considered “high-risk” for community transmission.
“We are not doing so good," Arora said. "In terms of the nation, we’re one of the lowest vaccinated states."
Luckily, the more viruses continue to mutate, they usually get milder and milder like the common cold, but Arora said we’re not quite there yet.