Covid virus will be with us ‘for generations’, say experts

Despite the availability of vaccines, Covid will remain a threat to life for generations, according to medical experts.

And the SA Medical Association’s Dr Angelique Coetzee has warned people not to let their guard down during the relative calm period – compared to past hard lockdowns – warning of a possibility of a fifth wave in winter.

“We expect our next wave around May to June. If the cycle has been broken, we might see another variant this year – hopefully not delta, which led to healthcare workers burning out because of an influx of patients.

“People should become more vigilant if there is a fifth wave,” said Coetzee.

General practitioner Dr Karen van Kets said the future of Covid was unpredictable, “depending on how and where the virus mutates”. “We might be lucky and have something less virulent but very transmissible,” said Van Kets.

“We could also have something as horrible as delta that affected so many people’s lungs. “It is that unpredictability that will always make me respect Covid. I don’t think this is going to be untamed in our generation,” she said.

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“It is going to take more generations before it becomes insignificant – just like the flu virus that has been here for hundreds of years.”

Emergency physician at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital Dr Vidya Lalloo said there was no way to predict the future.

“The optimist in me says all subsequent mutations should be less virulent, but more infectious or transmissible,” said Lalloo.

“My hope is that it will eventually evolve into another form of the common cold or influenza.

“As with influenza, I suspect that our healthcare workers and vulnerable population will need seasonal vaccinations to prevent serious harm.”

Lalloo, who has been at the coalface of the virus treating her patients, said her experience during the first few variants was “heartbreaking and humbling”.

“Seeing young patients die, having patients arrive too late from home, when a simple resource like oxygen could have pulled them through.

“I have also witnessed people survive Covid, only to succumb to the post-Covid complications,” Lalloo said.

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“I have also observed the pain of relatives when we inform them that their loved ones could not make it – devastating. But as omicron came around, so did hope.

“We started needing less oxygen, fewer ventilators and less intensive nursing.”

Lalloo said there were a number of patients presenting with other conditions like appendicitis or kidney stones, but with Covid, the conditions became serious.

“As the death rate decreased, we all breathed a sigh of relief.”

Describing the experience of health workers during intense Covid spread as “a roller-coaster of emotions”, Lalloo said: “Many of us face fatigue and burnout.

The thought that another wave may be around the corner is too much to contemplate. “But we are survivors and each one of us can be proud of our contribution.”