The rollercoaster ride that’s been the COVID-19 experience took what felt like another stomach-churning drop a week ago when the world was introduced to omicron.
The Greek letter was chosen to designate the latest set of mutations to the original virus, and while it’s not at all clear how troubled Hawaii should be by this news, global health experts do describe it as a “variant of concern.”
While the world waits for answers — on its transmissability, on its lethality, on how well it evades immunization efforts and treatments — some regions are in an optimal place to prepare for the next phase of this pandemic.
Hawaii is one of them. The state, already with one of the highest vaccination rates, now should implement strategies to bolster that protection — most of which will depend on the initiative of residents to succeed.
As for government policy, booster shots should be promoted aggressively, and immediately. Care should be taken to keep reasonable measures such as masking and vaccine requirements in place for public places that are likely to bring many out for holiday socializing.
Getting tested more regularly, especially in advance of such events, would be a crucial step forward in the safeguarding of public health. And it’s a step that, increasingly, people should be able to take, with the wider availability of low-cost or free testing options.
Above all, this state has the enviable protection of its mid-Pacific location, and the “Safe Travels Hawaii” pre-screening it has enabled for more than a year. Omicron has only reinforced the resolve Hawaii leaders already have to keep those guardrails raised.
Yet even with all that, the islands are already in the crosshairs of the variant, which first turned up here on Thursday. This first reported patient had been previously infected with COVID-19 over a year ago but was never vaccinated.
Hawaii was one of the first states to report the omicron variant, perhaps owing to the daily transit of thousands through here, visitors and residents alike. It’s also a credit to the state’s epidemiological surveillance: Getting bad news is never pleasant, but getting it early is an advantage not to be wasted.
The fact that it arrived at the start of the holiday season’s events and activities adds to the urgency to make adjustments promptly.
It is ironic that Gov. David Ige, along with the county mayors, had just moved to lift some key pandemic restrictions on private gatherings and public venues. Those relaxed rules had taken effect only on Wednesday, the day before omicron was detected here.
And now that it is here … what?
For starters, there is little cause yet for reinstating the just-lifted socializing curbs, at least not until more is known about omicron’s threat level. The word from virologists is that it will take time to see how the virus behaves and how the disease progresses in clinical situations, with actual patients. Scientists are only beginning to learn its effect in the human body.
However, even if new mandates aren’t put in place, that doesn’t mean that Hawaii residents should ignore the potential for harm. People should do what they can to increase the safety of all their holiday-season activities. By now, everyone knows the drill. Maintain social distancing where that’s possible; pay attention to masking in public, especially indoors, and personal hygiene at all times.
Beyond such basics, there has never been a more critical time for the realization that COVID-19 is sure to become only the latest infectious disease the world must manage, indefinitely. Like the flu, the measles and rubella, this coronavirus ultimately may be held at bay, but not without effort on everyone’s part.
All of these diseases were defanged by vaccines: Why should COVID-19 be any different? Now is the time when getting the shot will offer the best protection, and it’s freely available to everyone age 5 and up.
President Joe Biden’s approach includes plans for family vaccine clinics, making it convenient for adults and children to get vaccinated, whether by a booster or the initial shots. This makes sense — anything that will raise the state’s immunity above the 80% range could help fend off a serious surge.
The administration’s push to make at-home COVID-19 tests more affordable, with out-of-pocket costs covered by insurance, should enhance the community’s ability to protect itself, a capacity that’s been largely lacking from the start.
Public health authorities have long warned about the advent of a new, potentially threatening variant, but while it’s not surprising, it’s distressing. But it should help to remember that the U.S., and Hawaii in particular, are in a better place now than in 2020, with vaccines and therapeutics improving all the time.
Now what’s needed is an attitude shift. COVID-19 is a reality for which everyone must take personal responsibility. Omicron may compel us as individuals to take the reins of this galloping horse, and bring it under some control.
