DETROIT – Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian has talked a bit about this before, but this is really the most concrete she’s been on our path to put the worst of the pandemic behind us, hopefully.
In a town hall meeting Friday (March 25), Michigan’s Chief Medical Officer is looking to the future to life, likely with COVID.
“What we’re doing at the moment is looking around us, looking at other states and other countries and doing what I’m calling horizon scanning, and looking for the next threat here to us in Michigan,” said Dr. Bagdasarian.
Dr. Bagdasarian says the following steps are crucial as COVID-19 isn’t going away.
“There will be cases of COVID-19,” Dr. Bagdasarian said. “I think that the virus has entrenched itself here, in a way that elimination of the virus anytime in the near future is a pipe dream.”
Those next steps mean increasing Michigan’s vaccination rate, which has stalled at just around 66%, which is below what most scientists think is herd immunity.
Dr. Bagdasarian also said that new variants like the BA.2 are already being monitored.
Vaccination guidance will likely change.
“Guidance around that is likely to change in upcoming months,” Dr. Bagdasarian said. “It’s very possible that there may be more boosters in the future. And that’s only because the virus has been with us for a short time. And we’re still learning about long-term immunity.”
