World Health Organisation chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has spoken for the first time this week about the latest findings regarding the transmissibility and likely severity of the coronavirus Omicron variant.
“Emerging data from South Africa suggests increased risk of reinfection with Omicron,” he said, adding that “there is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta”.
Until now, researchers and scientists have been primarily concerned about the transmissibility of Omicron compared to the Delta strain as well as the new variant’s potential ability to evade detection by the currently available vaccines.
The WHO chief is the most high-profile person so far to comment on the growing sense that, in spite of it’s higher transmissibility, the Omicron variant may not be as deadly a strain as Delta.
Despite the hopeful assessment, he stressed more data would be needed before drawing firm conclusions.
The Omicron variant has now spread to 57 countries around the world since first being reported in South Africa two weeks ago.
The UK was forced yesterday to move to what it terms “Plan B” – a return to heightened restrictions such as working from home and mask wearing in public spaces to try and counter the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
In Australia’s largest State, New South Wales, new daily case numbers of coronavirus have doubled from a low base in the space of a few days.
But State Premier, Dominic Perottet, said yesterday that the government was committed to keeping the state open and winding back most covid restrictions next week given hospitalisation rates remained so low.
NSW Wales Health reported there are presently 158 people in hospitals with covid around the state, with 24 in ICU.
Of the states total number of Omicron cases, none so far have needed to be hospitalised.
NSW is one of the most highly vaccinated jurisdictions in the world with over 93% of the adult poulation fully vaccinated and 94.7% having had one dose.
In South Africa, where Omicron was first identified, COVID cases have surged by 255 per cent in the past seven days.
Data released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) for the metropolitan area which includes Pretoria where the first suspected Omicron outbreak occurred — showed 1,633 admissions in public and private hospitals for COVID-19 between November 14 and December 8.
Of those, 31 per cent were severe cases — defined as patients needing oxygen or mechanical ventilation — compared with 66 per cent early in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and 67 per cent in the early weeks of the first.
Meanwhile, Pfizer has released results of laborotory studies which show that although two doses of vaccine appear to be significantly less effective in preventing infection from Omicron compared to previous strains, people can still expect to receive adequate protection against serious illness. The study also showed that a booster shot produces 25-fold increase in antibodies capable of fighting off Omicron.
Pfizer’s findings, announced in a press release, are preliminary and have not yet undergone scientific review.
But they are the first from a vaccine maker examining whether the booster doses that health authorities are urging people to get may indeed make a key difference.
Source – Al Jazeera, ABC News Australia, Seven News Australia.