Covid will 'evolve us out of pandemic' before vaccinations are shared globally, virologist predicts
ITV News Deputy Political Editor Anushka Asthana hears from medics and schools leaders worried for the coming weeks
Covid-19 is likely to become milder and more transmissible, a leading virologist has told ITV News.
Dr Julian Tang, honourary associate professor and clinical virologist in respiratory sciences at the University of Leicester, told ITV News the virus would become similar to the common cold or influenza over time - with severity fluctuating each year as it does with flu.
"It is becoming more endemic, more seasonal and I suspect, personally, that this virus will evolve us out of the pandemic before we solve any of those global equity problems with vaccination," he said - urging people to continue following the measures put in place to try and limit the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK.
He said: "I think this virus is adapting to the human population better it is becoming milder and more transmissible because the virus doesn't want to kill the host."
He added the virus "wants the host to be infected but relatively mildly so they can walk around society and spread the virus more."
Dr Julian Tang speaks to ITV News about the future of Covid-19
Early signs indicate the Omicron variant, which is now dominant in the UK, leads to a milder illness among vaccinated populations.
The prime minister said on Monday Omicron is “plainly milder” than other strains but warned its incredibly high transmissibility meant it would still put extreme pressure on the NHS.The NHS continues to face immense pressure as a result of the spread of the variant, with "extreme and unprecedented" staff shortages due to people getting infected, or having been exposed to the virus.
The chief executive of the NHS Confederation warned on Monday many parts of the health service are “in a state of crisis” due to high demand and staff absences. Matthew Taylor said that “in many parts of the health service, we are currently in a state of crisis” and that in the face of staff absence and high demand levels, some hospitals were having to declare “a critical incident”.
“Some hospitals are making urgent calls to exhausted staff to give up rest days and leave to enable them to sustain core services."
Listen to our coronavirus podcast:
England has stuck to Plan B Covid measures throughout the festive period, while Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all introduced stricter measures.
Dr Tang said he thinks the evolving variants of Covid-19 will spell the end of the pandemic earlier than we're able to vaccinate people worldwide.
It "doesn't make sense" for the virus to become more severe, he said, and said even if more lethal variants do appear they would likely not last long, he predicted, citing the Gamma and Lambda variants as example.