Fauci: COVID-19 Is Here to Stay, but We Can Control It, perhaps with longer lasting vaccines

Fauci: COVID-19 Is Here to Stay, but We Can Control It Next steps may include variant-specific vaccines Jennifer Henderson medpagetoday

Alhough it would be next to impossible to eradicate SARS-CoV-2, it is fully feasible to control it, said Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), during a virtual event held Friday morning by the National Press Club.

A variety of factors make COVID-19 different from polio and measles, viruses that were previously eliminated in the U.S., including the number of genotypically and phenotypically diverse variants of SARS-CoV-2, and that SARS-CoV-2 has animal reservoirs for the virus, Fauci noted.

There has also been a lack of widespread acceptance when it comes to COVID vaccines, and immunity through vaccination or infection wanes over several months.

"We're hoping for control," Fauci said, which would involve a combination of common-sense hygiene and mitigation measures, intermittent vaccination, and treatment with effective antivirals and monoclonal antibodies.

As for the next generation of COVID shots, and how regularly they would be needed, Fauci was both optimistic and realistic.

"I would hope that we get to the point where immunity lasts long enough where we only intermittently need to be boosted," he said, adding that he doesn't think a schedule of receiving shots as often as once every 4 months is feasible. ...