The Christmas holidays are upon us and unfortunately Covid-19 and other viruses like the flu and RSV are still going around.
In recent days, it was revealed by Green Party leader Eamon Ryan that Government will consider reintroducing mandatory mask wearing if cases of Covid continue to spike. It follows concerns growing in medical circles the deadly virus is making a comeback –Covid cases are up 75% since the start of the month – and experts have advised people they should wear masks. However, wearing face masks has not been made mandatory by the Government yet.
In 2022, top immunologist Professor Luke O’Neill made several predictions about Covid-19 in Ireland. We look back on what predictions were accurate and what to expect in the future.
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Living with Covid
Professor Luke O’Neill predicted that 2022 would be the year we win the fight against Covid and the top immunologist said we would be able to return to normal life in the next 12 months. He said at the time: “The ultimate mission of medicine must be to get us back to the way things were. To get back to living full lives.”
Professor O'Neill indicated that widespread antigen testing, vaccine boosters and the arrival of new, effective medications for the virus all point to the defeat of the virus as major disruption to our lives. He said: “We will be able to live with it, because of all these strategies.”
Since the start of 2022, social distancing and the Covid pass system for the hospitality sector have been scrapped. Meanwhile, elderly and vulnerable people are continuing to be offered seasonal vaccines to protect them.
Ultimately, Professor O'Neill's prediction on this was right as we all continue to live with the virus by checking ourselves for Covid by using antigen tests and by receiving boosters jabs when offered. However, Covid-19 is still around and is likely to be around continuing into the future and while 2022 was a breakthrough year, we're still battling against the virus which is still hanging around.
Medical breakthroughs in battling Covid
Professor O'Neill predicted that 2022 would see "medical breakthroughs" in tackling Covid-19 such as the anti-viral drug Paxlovid. He revealed at the time: “They released the data in December and it’s great. It decreases the risk of hospitalisation in the over 65s by 94%."
“Let’s say in February or March, you get infected. There will still be infections, because the virus isn’t going to go away – we’re just going to know how to manage it.
Professor O'Neill said at the time: "So you feel a little rough and you get a test – an antigen test will suffice, probably – and you take an anti-viral and that will kill the virus. It gives about 80 to 90% protection across the board. So we have a tablet now as well as a vaccine – science has delivered both things. The anti-viral will keep things under control.”
Professor O'Neill's prediction about the anti-viral drug and other medical breakthroughs was quite accurate, as Paxlovid has in recent months been used by the HSE. Many people who were diagnosed with Covid-19 were given prescriptions for the viral drug Paxlovid, and the drug does seem to help reduce hospitalisations.
However, the drug itself might not exactly be a gamechanger as relatively few doses have been administered here so far. In the summer, information released to Social Democrats health spokeswoman Róisín Shortall showed that just 289 doses of the drug were given to treat Covid-19.
Omicron variant vaccine
During the summer Prof O'Neill also told Newstalk that a new vaccine being developed by Moderna could tackle the Omicron strain which is so far the strongest strain of the virus. Prof O'Neill said: "They got a very high antibody response. It was a hugely effective vaccine in the trial of course, this is the first trial of this.
“So now we have the first the Omicron-specific vaccine. The prediction will be that this will now become the one to use, obviously, because Omicron is easily the most dominant one in the world at the moment, alongside its siblings BA.4 and BA.5.”
Professor O'Neill previously said that there is potential for more Covid-19 variants to crop up, but that this is "hard to predict." He said: "Could there be another one? It’s hard to predict, but I wouldn’t worry about it. You could go mad with worry about most things in life.
"We began boosting against the Delta variant and it works against Omicron, so it should work against other variants," added Professor O'Neill.
Professor O'Neill's prediction for an Omicron targeted vaccine ultimately was correct, as in October the government rolled out the Covid-19 booster vaccinations against the Omicron variant. The booster vaccine was offered to people aged over 65 and those with a weak immune system.
Advances in healthcare
Professor O'Neill said that trauma the world has been through since early 2020 may result in major advances in healthcare. Prof O’Neill said: “They’ve been working on vaccines for years and Covid has ramped up the effort. There’s a war going on and they’ve been galvanised to develop them more quickly.
"Other diseases may benefit – we may well see a vaccine for HIV and malaria in the coming years.” This prediction from Professor O'Neil was fairly accurate, as a few weeks ago there was the announcement that a new Alzeimher’s drug could offer major breakthrough in treating the disease. Lecanemab, a drug which targets proteins in the brain that lead to dementia, has been proven in clinical trials to slow the decline in memory and thinking amongst early stage Alzeimher’s patients.
Scientists discovered that the drug stalled disease progression by 27% when taken for 18 months. They said that the preliminary results are proof that “life changing” treatments will come along to tackle Alzeimher’s in the near future.
There may also well be more medial advances on the way in 2023, and we can also expect more news regarding Covid-19 in the coming weeks.
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