A technician controls the equipment installed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) set up in the HUCA gym. / aida garcía Experts insist on the need to vaccinate the population against both pathologies, but disagree with the return to the mask indoors «The pandemic is not over. In the fall we will return to the interiors and there will be more infections. “More than covid, I am worried about the flu, since we have had the immune system protected against it for two years.” Both are expert views. Both from epidemiologists. The first corresponds to Daniel López-Acuña, former director of the World Health Organization (WHO). The second, to Pedro Arcos, director of the Emergency Research Unit of the University of Oviedo. Despite the apparent divergence between the two positions, the two experts point out what will be the problems of the health fall in Asturias: the throes of a covid not yet annihilated and the virulence of a flu that has spent two years crashing into masks. A protection that, for the moment, neither the Ministry of Health nor the communities, including the Principality, seem to make mandatory again beyond the current restrictions: public transport, health and social health centers and pharmacies. “And that I don’t think it is necessary to re-impose,” Arcos defends against López-Acuña’s position, “on a personal level we must think about protecting ourselves this autumn-winter.” 3,104 deaths in Asturias from covid since the start of the pandemic, at the beginning of 2020. That means a mortality rate of 304.89 per 100,000 inhabitants. The fourth highest in the country after Aragón (390.18), Castilla y León (381.22), Castilla-La Mancha (380.90 and the Basque Country (325.11) Mediating between both positions are the experts María de Oña, virologist and member of the Committee of Experts who has advised the Principality throughout the pandemic, and José Antonio Vidal, neurologist and, since this summer, general secretary of the Medical Union (Simpa).For the former, it is difficult “to predict what will happen », due to the fact that «contagions are not monitored as strictly as before, since the self-diagnosis caused by antigen tests means that there are many more infections than those reported». With these precautions, the virologist believes that «the return to the interiors suggests a new wave in which the incidence is high”. The opinion of the experts Epidemiologist Daniel López-Acuña “The pandemic is not over. In the fall we will return to the interiors and there will be more infections” Pedro Arcos Epidemiologist “More than covid worries me to flu. We have had a protected immune system for two years” Virologist María de Oña “A strain with high associated mortality cannot be ruled out. Hence the need for monitoring» Neurologist José Antonio Vidal «The seventh wave reached its zenith in mid-July, with 400 admissions. We expect a replica in September» More drastic is José Antonio Vidal. “The Ministry of Health has just concluded the pandemic. It is something hasty and more propagandistic than real », he sentences. And he provides data: «The seventh wave reached its zenith in mid-July, with 400 admissions. We foresee a new aftershock, at the most, around September 10 and 12 ». Vaccination, key What to do both for the arrival of a new wave and for the flu? There the agreement of the experts is total: «Vaccinate». From Vidal’s “I don’t know what they are waiting for” to the precision that the vaccine that matters this year “is the flu one,” insists Arcos. For López-Acuña, the vaccine against covid “is essential”, since, as De Oña summarizes, “vaccinations have proven their effectiveness.” Of course, it is also committed to a double vaccine “against covid and against the flu”, for vulnerable groups and, adds Arcos, “for those who have more contact with the public.”