Bubble Strategy - A Practical Solution to Return to Regular Life in the Intertwined Era of Vaccine Rollouts and Virus Mutation.

Ying Shen,Quanyi Wang,Tong Yu,Da Huo

doi:10.46234/ccdcw2022.014

Abstract

For a long time, vaccination and herd immunity were considered to be the magic solution for controlling coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the emergence of new variants altered people’s expectations and prolonged the pandemic duration, especially the Omicron strain with substantially increased transmissibility and decreased vaccine efficacy. Therefore, we are in urgent need of a practical solution to resume regular life to some extent, while mitigating COVID-19 risks in the tight race between vaccine rollouts and virus variation. This commentary proposed that bubble strategy (or closed loop management), utilized in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and to be implemented in Beijing 2022 Winter Games, could serve as a novel technique of non-pharmaceutical interventions in coping with such a situation.

Highlights

The second and final versions of the Playbooks for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 were jointly released on December 13, 2021 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and Beijing 2022 [1]
Based on the current requirements outlined in the Playbooks, the closed loop is sophisticated and rigorous, and will undoubtedly serve as a model for bubble strategies in global mass gathering events in the context of heterogeneous COVID-19 risk potentials between countries
We are in urgent need of a practical solution to resume regular life to some extent while mitigating COVID-19 risks in the tight race between vaccine

Summary

Introduction

The second and final versions of the Playbooks for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 were jointly released on December 13, 2021 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and Beijing 2022 [1]. Based upon the dynamic of the COVID-Zero strategy towards COVID-19 currently in place in China and considering that local cases only occasionally emerged, the closed loop management implemented for Beijing 2022 is rather comprehensive and rigorous. Based on the current requirements outlined in the Playbooks, the closed loop is sophisticated and rigorous, and will undoubtedly serve as a model for bubble strategies in global mass gathering events in the context of heterogeneous COVID-19 risk potentials between countries.

Results

Conclusion