The approach to surges is continuously changing, as new cases rise across the country in the wake of the new COVID-19 strain.
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The new subvariant, BA.2, is spreading rapidly, but is still not nearly as high of a surge as the country dealt with in January due to omicron.
Now, however, people are being encouraged to assess their own personal risk rather than having it be determined by health departments.
"This is good news, this shows we are entering into an era of endemicity," said Dr. Dean Blumberg, an infectious disease specialist with the University of California, Davis on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" on Monday with Holly Quan and Eric Thomas.
"So, that it's similar to influenza that people make calculations all the time depending on their risk tolerance what activities they're going to do during flu season," he said. "And we accept that there is a risk of getting infected, and the vast majority of the time those infections, if they do occur, then they result in mild patient disease."
People of course would rather not get sick at all, but it is a risk, and people are now going to have to try deciding what to do in the face of these situations on their own.
For those who do get sick, there's a robust supply of antiviral treatment available as fewer people are needing it now, said Blumberg.
As for the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine that was recently approved for those aged 50 and up, and other at-risk groups, there are some people who are enthusiastic about getting it.
"But the messaging has been really unclear from the CDC and from the FDA about who needs this fourth dose," he said. "The FDA and the CDC did meet last week and review criteria for booster doses and really didn’t come to a conclusion on that."
It's hard to tell still who would benefit most from getting that fourth dose, as studies have varied in results.
But Blumberg does recommend it for certain people, such as those traveling to an area where there is a high risk of transmission, or any kind of travel on an airplane that increases the risk of exposure.
"Otherwise, depending on their risk tolerance, I would recommend waiting," he said. "I don't think we can be boosting all the time, people are going to get tired of that."
"I'm really worried about booster fatigue settling in," said Blumberg.
There's also a chance that with each new dose, there's less of an immune response, he said.
It might be most beneficial to wait until the fall to get the next booster dose, as infection rates are likely to be higher then.
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