Rzymski Piotr, Szuster-Ciesielska Agnieszka
Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 60-806 Poznań, Poland.
Department of Virology and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, 20-033 Lublin, Poland.
Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Jul 3;10(7):1070. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10071070.
By June 2022, COVID-19 vaccine coverage in low-income countries remained low, while the emergence of the highly-transmissible but less clinically-severe Omicron lineage of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the assumption expressed outside the academic realm that Omicron may offer a natural solution to the pandemic. The present paper argues that this assumption is based on the false premise that this variant could be the final evolutionary step of SARS-CoV-2. There remains a risk of the emergence of novel viral subvariants and recombinants, and entirely novel lineages, the clinical consequences of which are hard to predict. This is particularly important for regions with a high share of immunocompromised individuals, such as those living with HIV/AIDS, in whom SARS-CoV-2 can persist for months and undergo selection pressure. The vaccination of the least-vaccinated regions should remain the integral strategy to control viral evolution and its potential global consequences in developed countries, some of which have decided to ease sanitary and testing measures in response to the rise and dominance of the Omicron variant. We argue that low-income countries require help in improving COVID-19 vaccine availability, decreasing vaccine hesitancy, and increasing the understanding of long-term vaccination goals during the circulation of a viral variant that causes milder disease.
到2022年6月，低收入国家的新冠疫苗接种率仍然很低，而传染性很强但临床症状较轻的新冠病毒奥密克戎谱系的出现，导致学术界以外的人认为奥密克戎可能为疫情提供一个自然的解决方案。本文认为，这一假设基于一个错误的前提，即该变体可能是新冠病毒的最终进化阶段。仍然存在出现新型病毒亚变体和重组体以及全新谱系的风险，其临床后果难以预测。这对于免疫功能低下人群比例较高的地区尤为重要，比如感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病的人群，新冠病毒在他们体内可能持续数月并承受选择压力。在一些发达国家，由于奥密克戎变体的出现和主导，其中一些国家已决定放宽卫生和检测措施，而对疫苗接种率最低的地区进行疫苗接种仍应是控制病毒进化及其潜在全球影响的整体策略。我们认为，在一种导致疾病较轻的病毒变体传播期间，低收入国家需要帮助来提高新冠疫苗的可及性、减少疫苗犹豫，并增强对长期疫苗接种目标的理解。
