The World Health Organization warns of Omicron rapid spread and the weak effectiveness of vaccines against it
The World Health Organization confirmed that The Omicron mutant is more likely to spread from the Corona virus than its Delta counterpart, cause less severe symptoms and make vaccines less effective and it has been detected in 63 countries so far, indicating that the data is still incomplete.
The organization explained that Omicron appears to be spreading faster than the Delta mutant, which is currently responsible for most infections in the world. This speed of spread has been observed not only in South Africa, but also in the United Kingdom, where the delta mutant predominates.
The WHO cannot yet know – due to a lack of sufficient data – whether the high outbreak rate in the highly immunocompromised population is due to the fact that Omicron “escapes immunity, exploits a high underlying transmissibility, or is a combination of the two”.
The organization predicted “Omicron will outperform Delta in places where there is community transmission.”
For its part, Pfizer and Biontech laboratories, which developed the Kominarty vaccine, one of the most effective vaccines against Corona to date, confirmed, on Wednesday, that its vaccine is still “effective” on the mutant Omicron after “three doses.”
With regard to vaccines against corona, the limited data available, as well as the genetic fingerprint of the omicron mutant, indicate a “reduction in efficacy” with regard to protection against “infection.”
It should be noted that most countries that can afford vaccines encourage people to take a booster dose, as is the case, especially in Europe, which is facing a new wave of infections caused by the delta mutant, after early easing of health restrictions in addition to low vaccination rates.
Source: agencies
