Covid is here to stay: Can World Cup science be part of Plan ‘B?’

In some parts of the world, over the last year friends and families have met, socialised, attended sporting and cultural events, schools have remained open, and lived pretty much a ‘normal’ life, without masking or social distancing, due to the imposition of strict lockdowns and travel restrictions at the outset of Covid-19, and the complicity of the entire populations. No, it is not a dream or a fantasy, and the Australian and New Zealand experiences demonstrate what is truly possible in adversity. So, we may well ask, if we do the same, with our own Covid-free strategy, can we, and the world, also achieve ‘normality’ through a vaccination programme? Scientists are pessimistic, with a recent survey by Nature magazine finding 90 per cent of epidemiologists believe Covid-19 is here to stay, and can never be truly eliminated, with Michael Osterholm, of the University of Minnesota saying, “Eradicating this virus right now from the world is a lot like trying to plan the construction of a stepping-stone pathway to the Moon. It’s unrealistic.” And ironic really, as the Head of World Health Organization Emergency Programs Dr Mike Ryan has described global vaccination elimination of Covid-19 as only hopeful, a “moonshot!” Only, it seems, in a fantasy world can we ever return to the same way of life, the same freedoms we experienced before 2020, and to think we thought Wall Street crashes, and the oil price shocks were bad... this abomination has changed us forever, as “The virus becoming endemic is likely,” says Angela Rasmussen, from Georgetown University, her opinion confirmed by Christopher Dye of the University of Oxford, saying, “COVID will be eliminated from some countries, but with a continuing risk of reintroduction from places where vaccine coverage and public-health measures have not been good enough.” In the prestigious British Medical Journal, Jennie Lavine from Emory University writes, “Over time Covid-19 could become a disease first encountered in early childhood, when it would typically cause mild infection or none at all.” She went on to caution however that It could take decades for enough of the population to have sufficient immunity. Even the World Health Organization warned as far back as December, through Professor David Heymann, the chair of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group. “The world hoped for herd immunity, that transmission would be decreased if enough were immune. However, it will continue to mutate as it reproduces, especially in areas of intense admission. Fortunately, we have tools to save lives, and these will permit us to learn to live with Covid-19.” Now that’s not what we want to hear... is it? Thinking outside the box then, should we look at this in a different way? Should we be looking at static, or venue-based eradication of the virus as a means of recovering a semblance of normality, sanity, and generating economic recovery. It was the genius Einstein, who may have been referring to masking, social distancing, and lockdowns, when he commented on ‘the insanity of doing the same things and expecting different results,’ so we need to get off the hamster wheel, don’t we? Intrigued to discover that the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar have put their faith in American PlasmaGuard technology to keep teams, officials, fans, and residents safe during the global event next year, Oman-based David Mallinson has secured the same technology for the Sultanate, explaining, “HVAC in-duct,’ technology can eradicate 99.99 per cent of airborne and surface pathogens, removing viruses, and germs from schools, hospitals, hotels, or restaurants. The ministries, and industry sectors need to get involved, but it offers the prospect a return to sustained economic recovery we can hardly ignore, doesn’t it?” Mired in the global politics and bureaucracy of global Covid-19 responses, is it possible that a genuine option has emerged? Amidst this economic and social malaise, within a society that deems pandemic restrictions culturally paradoxical. could this be the light at the end of the tunnel... or are we happy to just go on, as we are?