Dr. Adalja: ‘We’ve Got to Learn How to Risk Calculate’ Because COVID ‘Isn’t Going Anywhere’ and Infection Is ‘Inevitable’

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security Dr. Amesh Adalja said that breakthrough cases are “likely to be mild, likely to not even cause you to call your doctor” regardless of whether it’s from the Omicron or Delta variants, “we’ve got to learn how to risk calculate. Because this virus isn’t going anywhere.” And that the best approach is to get vaccinated “so that when we get our inevitable COVID-19 infection, it’s a mild one.”

Host Martha MacCallum asked, [relevant remarks begin around 2:05] “[F]or people who have two vaccines and a booster, should they go about their normal lives?”

Adalja responded, “I think it all depends on your risk tolerance. If you’re someone who’s fully vaccinated, even if you get a breakthrough, whether it’s Delta or Omicron, it’s likely to be mild, likely to not even cause you to call your doctor. So, for those individuals, I think it’s up to their own risk tolerance, and I think we’ve got to learn how to risk calculate. Because this virus isn’t going anywhere. And the best thing we can do is reduce the harm the virus causes by getting ourselves vaccinated so that when we get our inevitable COVID-19 infection, it’s a mild one.”

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