Filenews 8 December 2021
Three conclusions appear to be emerging at an early stage regarding Omikron, according to Michael Ryan, head of the emergency response directorate at the World Health Organization.
Existing vaccines protect (though less), Omikron shows no increase in the severity of the condition, and re-infections are more common.
There is "no reason to doubt that existing vaccines protect" patients infected with the Omikron variant from severe forms of COVID-19, Michael Ryan estimated.
"We have very effective vaccines that have proven their sufficience in the face of all variants so far, in terms of the severity of the disease and the need for hospitalization," Dr Ryan said in an interview with the French Agency.
"There is no reason to think that the same will not happen" with Omikron, he added, explaining that we are still at the beginning of studies for this variant that was detected on November 24 and has been recorded so far in about 40 countries.
"The general behaviour we have observed so far shows no increase in severity. In fact, in some areas of southern Africa, milder symptoms are reported," the doctor added, echoing the statements of the American epidemiologist Anthony Fauci as well.
"We are at the beginning and we have to be careful in the way we analyze" this data, but Ryan warned, making sure to repeatedly emphasize that scientists have only just begun to examine the new variant strain.
The onset of Omikron has caused some panic, mainly in Europe, which is facing a fifth wave of COVID-19 due to the Delta strain.
The best protection
The Irish epidemiologist estimated that the first information from the southern part of Africa "indicates that the vaccine seems to retain the protection it offers".
However, he admitted that vaccines may be less effective against Omikron because of the many mutations it exhibits in its spike protein.
But "it is very unlikely" that this variant strain will completely escape the protection of vaccines.
"The preliminary data we have from the south of Africa does not show that there is a loss of effectiveness at a catastrophic rate," he stressed, noting: "In fact the opposite is true at the moment."
"The best weapon we have at the moment is the vaccine," he stressed.
"When a new strain appears, it tends to be more contagious because it competes with previous executives," Ryan explained.
After all, Omikron may prevail over the Delta, which is responsible for most of the covid-19 infections since late 2020 when it first appeared in India.
The rules are the same
But it is possible that Omikron is spreading so quickly in the southern part of Africa because it takes advantage of the fact that the Delta has not spread much there, Ryan estimated.
Also early evidence suggests that the new strain can more easily infect those vaccinated or those who have contracted COVID-19 in the past.
"There is data according to which re-infections are more common with Omikron than previous waves or previous variant strains," the doctor explained, stressing that vaccines have been created to protect against severe forms of the disease and not necessarily from milder ones.
"What we are interested in is not whether one can be re-infected with Omikron, but whether the new infections are more or less serious," he underlined.
Ryan, in particular, insisted on the need to continue to observe basic protective measures: the use of masks, the ventilation of spaces, social distancing.
"The virus has not changed its nature," he warned, "the rules of the game stay the same."
