LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the COVID-19 pandemic nears its third year, many are wondering at what point does COVID switches from a pandemic to an endemic, meaning it's something commonly found in the population.
Dr. Joe Flynn, chief administrative officer and physician-in-chief at Norton Healthcare said the World Health Organization has the final call on whether COVID becomes an "endemic" since this is a worldwide issue.
He said there is a possibility of another mutation that could make the virus incredibly dangerous again, but we have no way of knowing that. But the most important thing is to be precautious by getting your vaccine and masking up still.
"If we see another mutation or variant, we'll have to deal with it," he said. "But I think as a population we know how to respond, we know our health systems are geared up for this and know how to move forward."
He said masking is based on sound data over many years that has shown wearing a mask is a proven barrier to the spread of disease.
"By making sure that we uniformly mask people, we are making sure to protect everybody," Flynn said.
Flynn said even though there has been tension on masking throughout the pandemic, that doesn't change the data.
"I think we all need to be accepting of both vantage points," he said. "Make sure our children understand that either we're doing this to protect you and to not judge those who are doing something different than you."
Most health experts agree that COVID-19 is going to have a "chronic presence" in the human population. But how that will look is a mystery.
"I think there's going to be some seasonality, will that be normal, like the flu? My guess is we get a COVID vaccine and flu vaccine at the same time," Flynn said.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.