Everything we thought we knew about COVID-19 is about to change | Opinion

I’ve lost count of what wave of the pandemic we are entering now, but whatever it is, it’s washing away most of what I thought I understood about COVID-19.

That’s all thanks to omicron, a baffling new form of the virus that contains a “Frankenstein mix” of mutations. Scientists are breathlessly trying to understand what all this means, but it’s already clear that omicron is more contagious than any COVID-19 variant we’ve seen since the pandemic began. The speed with which it has become the dominant strain — going from 13% to 73% of cases nationwide in one week — is stunning.

Because omicron is so different from what we’ve encountered before, much of what we thought we knew about the coronavirus is about to change.

First, something that hasn’t changed: The best way to protect yourself and your community from COVID-19 (including omicron) is to get vaccinated. But the definition of “fully vaccinated” — and what that means — may be shifting.

“The definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ — and what that means — may be shifting.”

On Saturday, my 7-year-old and I celebrated the day we believed she had become “fully vaccinated” — meaning it was two weeks since her second COVID-19 shot. But I wasn’t as jubilant as I had hoped. Because for weeks, experts have been imploring the CDC to change its definition of “fully vaccinated” from two to three doses (i.e., a booster) of the vaccine, based on how much more protection the third shot offers, particularly against omicron. A handful of universities and state officials in New Mexico are now mandating boosters. So you thought you were “done” after your second shot? Think again.

What it means to be “fully vaccinated” (whether that’s two shots or three) is changing as well. Before, many equated two shots of the COVID-19 vaccine with being bulletproof, a passport to shopping and socializing mask-free. Add a booster, and that was thought to be titanium-level protection. Not anymore.

In the last week or so, we’ve seen more stories of breakthrough infections, including in people who had gotten a booster shot. (Just ask Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and the Sixers, Eagles, and Flyers, all of whom had to postpone games due to COVID-19.) I got my booster two weeks ago, but I didn’t celebrate that this weekend, either. Instead, I upgraded my cloth masks to N95s and KN95s (and many of you probably should, too).

If you’ve gone this long without having to subject yourself to rapid at-home COVID-19 tests: Congratulations, you had a good run. But for most of us, that time is likely over. People are gathering for the holiday, despite the warnings about mixing households, particularly if some people are unvaccinated. Enter rapid tests. They aren’t perfect, but they can save lives by catching new infections, particularly if you can take them right before you’re set to gather that day. But they can be hard to get and expensive ($10-$15 per test). Some sites around the city are giving them out for free — but you’d better move fast. (And hopefully, President Joe Biden’s plan to increase access to testing will work.)

Even the symptoms of COVID-19 could be changing: According to early reports, infection with omicron may feel more like a cold — runny nose, sore throat — and lack some other key features we’ve long associated with COVID-19, such as loss of taste or smell.

Finally, here’s something that should change: We need to shift our thinking about COVID-19 as a problem for individuals (Will I or someone I love get sick?) to a problem for our community and society. Now that my child is fully vaccinated and I’ve gotten a booster, I don’t worry that omicron will put either of us in the hospital. But I’m worried about our hospitals.

» READ MORE: Full ICUs, 100 dying a day: The winter coronavirus surge is straining Pa.’s health-care system

Many of Pennsylvania’s hospitals are already at capacity, and omicron hasn’t done its worst yet. Every single health-care worker I know is burnt out. Even if omicron causes a milder form of disease than past variants, some people will get very sick — and any increase in cases will quickly overwhelm our already taxed hospitals. With all resources tied up in COVID-19, some doctors worry they may not be able to provide basic medical care. What happens to a community where people can’t get treated for cancer, broken bones, and heart attacks? So even if you don’t worry about getting COVID-19, you should protect yourself for the sake of your hospital.

This can all feel scary. (And I didn’t even get into long COVID-19, which can happen from breakthrough infections.) So to get through it, we need to change our definition of “lockdown.” As worried as I am about the days ahead, many of us don’t have to go back to never leaving the house. We can keep schools open, we can wear better masks, we can use rapid at-home tests to spend time with the key people who keep us going. I don’t have grandparents and other high-risk people in my home, so in January, I am planning to visit my goddaughter in Chicago.

But, like so much of what we thought we knew about COVID-19, that may change.

Alison McCook is a writer based in Wyncote.