Concerning news on Omicron! Top health expert shares crucial data amid COVID surge. Read here
1 min read 14 Jan 2022, 06:49 PM ISTThe omicron variant has already become the dominant variant in many countries and is causing considerable illness and death, study shows
PremiumIn a ‘Concerning News’ on Omicron, US-based top infectious disease expert Dr Faheem Younus on Friday pointed out that if you are previously infected with COVID that does not provide you any protection against the coronavirus variant. You can still get re-infected.
However, those who have had COVID and also taken vaccines against the virus have a much lower chance of catching the variant. “Huge potential negative implications for countries who suffered mass casualties due to delta," he adds.
This comes at a time when the world is witnessing a massive COVID surge, even those countries that were vastly devasted by the Delta variant. As per World Heath Organisation data, during the week 3 – 9 January 2022, new COVID-19 cases increased markedly by 55%.
All countries reported a sharp surge in infections except Africa Region, which in fact showed an 11% drop. The highest numbers of new cases were reported from the US (4,610,359 new cases; a 73% increase), followed by France (1,597,203 new cases; a 46% increase), and the UK (1,217,258 new cases; a 10% increase).
Along with the post, the head of infectious diseases at the University of Maryland, shared data that showed, during the COVID pandemic, several new viral variants have emerged, owing to which the virus became very contagious. However, immune escape was not observed and vaccines remained effective.
But, “…the omicron variant is more likely than previous variants to cause reinfection suggests some level of immune escape," the study said.
The omicron variant has already become the dominant variant in many countries and is causing considerable illness and death, although possibly to a somewhat lesser extent than previous variants, it reads
Although receipt of a third dose (booster) of the vaccine may increase the level of cross-neutralizing antibodies to the omicron variant, on the basis of the data from the present study, the rapid development of new, variant-adapted vaccines is warranted, it also said.
