'More Of A Logistical Nightmare Than A Threat': What This Harvard Professor Is Saying About Covid

As various health experts predict COVID-19 may soon become endemic, Harvard Professor of Medicine Dr. Stefanos Kales has made some bold statements about the direction pandemic measures should take.

Dr. Kales said in a LinkedIn post that “COVID-19 is not a serious threat” for the majority of younger individuals, but rather a “nuisance that impedes schooling, work and travel.”

“At the present time … for the majority of average persons, COVID-19 is much more of a logistical nightmare than a health threat,” he wrote. “Asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic persons testing positive are not allowed to cross borders, fly on an airplane, work, go to school or participate in athletic events.”

Kales says that the emphasis should shift toward the “vulnerable,” including those with pre-existing conditions, the unvaccinated and older individuals.

"Target vaccinations and boosters voluntarily to higher-risk persons," he added. "Once Omicron peaks, subsequent variants are likely to be even more mild. We badly need to allow the general public, particularly the young, to get back to normal life."

However, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky clarified that because Omicron is ​​"milder does not mean mild,” adding that, “we cannot look past the strain on our health systems and substantial number of deaths.”

The World Health Organization stressed that Omicron will not be the last variant of COVID-19, stating that the pandemic is “nowhere near over.”