And while none of them are perfect on their own, when you combine them with what our own immune system does and the continued kind of improvement of these tools, the layered immunity we have, COVID should become less and less fatal. SLAVITT: I think the real question is, what are the tools that we need to have as a country in order to live as normal life as possible? The best news of all is that we have incredible scientific tools - vaccines, boosters, oral therapeutics. And what we don't know but we may be witnessing are some clues as to what a predictable pattern will look like when we settle into one.įLORIDO: Why is it so important for us to know that we're in an endemic phase, assuming we get there at some point? It just means it's following a predictable pattern. Endemic doesn't necessarily mean people are no longer losing their lives. Endemic doesn't necessarily mean everybody's safe. SLAVITT: Well, yeah, let's be clear - we don't know if we're in an endemic phase yet, and we probably won't know till afterwards because I think the best definition of endemic that I've heard is just when the surprises are gone, and it becomes predictable.
But before I ask why you think that, remind us what the endemic phase of a disease is and how that is different from the pandemic phase. Andy Slavitt, welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.ĪNDY SLAVITT: It's great to be here, Adrian.įLORIDO: You said in a thread on Twitter that we're getting clues about what COVID will look like when it's an endemic disease. Slavitt was a senior adviser to President Biden on COVID and was the head of Medicare and Medicaid in the Obama administration. Well, Andy Slavitt thinks that this new wave of growth is giving us a glimpse into what endemic COVID will look like once we get there. Much of that increase is being driven by variants of omicron. And that's because in many parts of the country, COVID-19 case numbers are going up and up. To see the original story and read related reports, follow this link to the KSTP-TV website.Does it feel like everyone you know has COVID right now? For a lot of people, the answer is yes. Walz is encouraging both parents and kids to go together to get the vaccine. in Minnesota, state leaders will also share their personal stories on why they chose to get their children vaccinated. But we are still learning about the long-term effects of COVID." You feel healthy, you know people who have had COVID and are doing all right. I know it's easy when you're young to imagine that these things don't affect you. "Many young people are in this situation, and many, many have it worse. "His hands are cold to the touch, neither he nor … my wife and I are sure how long this will last," Slavitt said. Senior Coronavirus Adviser Andy Slavitt revealed that one of his sons, who is 19, has serious lingering effects six months after he first tested positive. Tuesday, President Joe Biden and other members of his COVID task force used their personal stories to persuade young people to get vaccinated. Health officials said more than 4 million adolescents, ages 12 to 17, have been vaccinated so far, including over half a million 12 to 15 year olds who have lined up to get the shot since the Pfizer vaccine became available for that age group earlier this month.Īccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 3 million children under 17 have had COVID-19 and even though it's rare for them to get severely ill, it can happen. "It's still very much a threat to those who are not vaccinated and as a reminder, we will still have many Minnesotans who are not vaccinated because they are not eligible for a vaccine and that includes all children under 12," Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann said.
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