Infectious disease expert says no there’s no certainty another Covid variant of concern won’t appear

Australia’s top infectious disease experts warn say Queenslanders cannot be certain a new Covid-19 variant of concern is not on the way, as the WHO warns the pandemic was still not over.

Professor Robert Booy, leading Australian infectious disease physicians. Supplied

The country’s top infectious disease expert has warned Queenslanders cannot be certain a new Covid-19 variant of concern was not imminent.

Professor Robert Booy, a consultant to vaccine manufacturers and an honorary professor at the University of Sydney, said while “we may be increasingly confident that a new variant of concern isn’t imminent, but not yet certain”.

His claim comes after a declaration from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that the Covid pandemic was not yet over and that it was still a public health emergency of international concern.

“We had 2200 deaths in the first 22 months of the pandemic but we have had nearly 16,000 deaths in the last 13 months – it’s hard to say the pandemic is really over,” Professor Booy said.

“However, we haven’t seen a new variant of concern in over a year which is a good sign.”

The expert reinforced that vaccination remains most effective against severe disease.

Professor Booy said people can be vaccinated and still get mild disease and, while they might feel awful, vaccination is helping to keep them out of hospital.

Professor Jodie McVernon. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“The rapidly unfolding situation in China suggests that their Zero-Covid policy was not keeping the Omicron virus under control — Omicron was out of control before the zero policy was stopped,” he said.

“The large numbers of deaths we are seeing in China in such a short time period suggests the virus was there all along, causing trouble in October and November.”

In a statement released on Monday, members of the WHO’s advisory committee said the Covid-19 pandemic was “probably at a transition point” but that long-term public health action was still “critically needed”.

“While eliminating this virus from human and animal reservoirs is highly unlikely, mitigation of its devastating impact on morbidity and mortality is achievable and should continue to be a prioritised goal,” the statement said.

University of Melbourne professor and Director of Epidemiology at the Doherty Institute, Jodie McVernon, said the WHO announcement was well aligned with Australia’s National Covid-19 health management plan for 2023.

“It recognises the ongoing burden and risks of Covid-19, but necessarily integrates these into the wider context of ongoing health challenges requiring sustainable programs for disease prevention and control,” she said.