AUSTIN (KXAN) — President Joe Biden said the COVID-19 pandemic was "over" in an interview with 60 Minutes last week. He has since clarified the pandemic has shifted to a new stage.
That new stage, Dr. Mark Casanova with the Texas Medical Association's COVID-19 task force said, is a transition between a pandemic and an endemic.
"An endemic occurs when, in essence, the wildfire is transitioning into burning embers, they're still out there, there are still infections, there's still people getting sick, but you just simply don't have the sheer volume," Casanova said.
He also noted the medical community has had time to "play catch up," enlisting vaccines and therapeutics to help fight the virus more effectively.
While there is no real marker for what qualifies as a pandemic versus an endemic, Casanova said federal and state funding for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics is eventually going to run out as a result of the lessening severity of the pandemic. It's why he encourages getting vaccinated now, while vaccines are still largely free.
Monoclonal antibodies could be upward of tens of thousands of dollars, he said.
"These are very costly medications, that again, have saved many lives and was very appropriate for the government to pick up that tab, but eventually, that coverage will run out," Casanova said. "Here in the state of Texas, with as many uninsured Texans as we have, that's certainly something that, that should be of a concern. All the more reason to run out and get a free vaccine."
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