Following the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, some health officials believe it may soon be time to lift coronavirus restrictions.
"I think it’s up to the president and the CDC to say we’re at this point where we start living with this and we stop restricting the public and go back to normal," Dr. Monica Gandhi, professor of medicine at UCSF, told KCBS Radio.
Public health officials have integrated many lifesaving principles in reaction to COVID-19, but it is also their function to also lead the public away from these restrictions.
"Coronavirus is going to become endemic, but that is not a bad thing," Gandhi reassured. "At some point we will go back to living a normal life in the public. There are certain metrics that are happening that are getting us to that point."
The approval for children to get vaccinated in the United States and the U.K.'s approval of Molnupiravir, an antiviral treatment to be used for unvaccinated patients or for mild to moderate breakthroughs, are milestones pushing us in the direction of living comfortably with COVID-19.
Gandhi expressed to KCBS Radio that the most important element for the public and public health officials to rely on moving forward is metrics. "Just give metrics," she said. While it is impossible to provide a solid "end date" for the pandemic, focusing on items like hospitalization rates is key for shifting from pandemic to endemic.
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