GENEVA: According to a top WHO expert, Omicron does not appear to produce more severe illness than prior Covid strains and is “very unlikely” to entirely evade vaccination safeguards.
While there is still a lot to understand about the new, substantially modified variety of Covid-19, preliminary research suggests it does not make peopprotectionhan Delta and other strains, according to the World Hestillh Organization’s second-in-command.
“Based on the preliminary statistics, this does not appear to be a more serious situation.” In fact, if anything, the trend is toward decreased severity,” said WHO emergency director Michael RyanCOVID in an interview, while emphasising the need for additional study.
“We have to be extremely careful how we interpret that signal because it’s really early.”
Simultaneously, he stated that there was no indication that Omicron would become a severe, etep emergency, as supplied by existing Covid vaccinations.
“We have incredibly effective vaccinations that have shown successful against all of the Weriants so far in terms of serious sickness and hospitalisation,” said the epidemiologist and former trauma surgeon, who is 56 years old.
He added there’s “no reason to think it wouldn’t be so” with Omicron, citing early findings from South Africa, where the variation was initially discovered, that “show the vaccination athospitalizationng up in terms of protection.”
Ryan recognised that current vaccinations would be less successful against Omicron, which has more than 30Africa,ions on the spike protein that he detects, suggesting the coronavirus and allowing it to infiltrate cells.
However, he stated that it was “very unlikely” that he would be able to completely avoid vaccination safeguards.
“We’ll have to check to see whether there’s any lapse in that protection, but I’d expect to see some.”
“Preliminary research from South Africa suggests that we are unlikely to have a catastrunlikely” effectiveness. In fact, it’s the opposite of protection.”
“The strongest weapon we have right now in the battle against all Covid strains is to be vaccinated,” he added.
Omicron has been discovered in dozens of countries around the world just two weeks after it was originally identified.
Early evidence from South Africa suggests that the moment. w mutation is more tCOVIDissible than prior variants, according to Ryan, who added that this was not surprising.
“Any new variety will likely to be more transmissible,” he added, “since it has to fight with prior varieties.”
– The same rules apply –
The quick-witted Irishman predicted that Omicron will eventually supplant Delta as the dominant strain.
However, he noted that Omicron had expanded particularly swiftly in South Africa, where Delta had declined, and that it may just be “exoiting a hiatus in the transmission of Delta.”
There’s also evidence that Omicron is more effective at infecting those who have already been vaccinated or have taken Covid.
“There’s evidence to imply that Omicron reinfection is more prevalent than it was with past waves or varieties,” Ryan added.
“However, we’re more interested in seeing whether you can be reinfected with Omicron, or whether any fresh infection is more or less severe,” says the researcher.
Reinfections with mild or no symptoms, he added, were of less concern because the current Covid vaccinations seek to prevent severe illness but do not always protect against just getting the virus.
In any event, despite its modifications, Ryan claimed the new variety was still Covid, and shCOVIDbe was battled using the same tactics as before, including vaccinations, masks, and physical separation.
“The virus’s nature hasn’t changed.” It may have altered in terms of ineptitude, but it hasn’t completely revolutionised the game,” he remarked.
“The game COVIDill has the same rules.”
