2021 has been a wild ride with COVID-19, even more so of a roller coaster as omicron spreads throughout the world.
As some look ahead to the new year in just a few days, many are simply looking forward to 2021 being over.
The biggest surprise of the year was realizing that the vaccines weren't going to spell the end of the pandemic the way everyone originally thought, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and Associate Dean for Regional Campuses at UCSF on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" on Wednesday with Dan Mitchinson.
"There were actually more deaths this year," he said. Last year at this time, there were a recorded 300,000 deaths due to COVID-19 in the United States. Adding that to this year, the country has reached a total of over 800,000 deaths.
"Having 500,000 deaths in a year of having vaccines seems really unprecedented," said Chin-Hong.
"The silver lining, is, of course, this year I've been struck by rapid developments in the oral agents," he said. UCSF is expecting its first batch of the Merck antiviral COVID-19 oral treatment on Wednesday.
This first distribution is only a small amount, between 50 and 20 doses, and going to be reserved for people who are at an extremely high risk of going to the hospital, such as those highly immunocompromised. It's likely UCSF will receive more in a few weeks.
The treatment is free to those who need it. In a couple of years, it might be something that patients will need to purchase themselves.
Pfizer's treatment has been proven to be even more effective at treating the virus. "It's really going to change things because you'll be getting a prescription you can go to Walgreens, CVS, and cut your hospitalization by 80%," he said.
But despite it being a year of major milestones in treatment, everyone is fatigued by the constant changes in the pandemic.
"We should be going to movies, going to see fireworks now and instead we’re kind of hunkering down again," said Chin-Hong.
But again, Chin-Hong is looking for the silver lining. Those who are vaccinated who then suffer a breakthrough infection will wind up having the strongest immunity going forward, a hybrid immunity, he said.
A recent study out of South Africa even shows that those who contract the omicron variant could be better protected from getting delta. "Delta is kind of the bulldog of variants, it’s really vicious, it can make you much sicker than omicron," said Chin-Hong.
But it’s unknown if the immunity created by omicron will then protect against whatever the next variant will be.
Challenges going ahead rely on resiliency. A lot of people have reached a fatalistic view of the virus, accepting that they're likely to get it no matter what, as well as dealing with pandemic fatigue, he said. But people will also have a wider array of options in the coming months for treatments and vaccines that will become increasingly available.
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