Amid growing threats of COVID-19 new variant Omicron, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday (November 28) said that it is still unclear if the Omicron variant is more transmissible than Delta or other variants of coronavirus. The WHO also said it it cannot tell yet if Omicron causes more severe disease than Delta and other known variants. “It may increase the risk of reinfection. But the current vaccines available remain effective against death and disease,” WHO has stated.
Some studies have claimed that Omicron can increase risk of reinfection which means that those who had tested COVID-19 positive earlier could become reinfected with Omicron. “But information is limited,” the WHO said.
“There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants,” the WHO stated. “Vaccines remain critical to reducing severe disease and death, including against the dominant circulating virus, Delta. Current vaccines remain effective against severe disease and death,” it added.
Omicron is the B.1.1.529 variant of coronavirus and it was first detected in South Africa. The WHO on Friday labelled Omicron as a ‘variant of concern’.
According to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the emergence of Omicron variant highlights the issue of vaccine injustice. “The longer we take to deliver #VaccinEquity, the more we allow the #COVID19 virus to circulate, mutate and become potentially more dangerous,” he tweeted. He said: “The WHO is working with scientists around the world to better understand key aspects of the Omicron variant and its impact on the key tools.”
