WHO chief scientist says omicron is “quite infectious” and shouldn’t panic

Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at the World Health Organization, stated that while the new omicron variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus appeared to be highly communicable, the correct response was to be prepared, be cautious, and not panic.

WHO has urged countries to increase health care capacity and vaccinate their populations to combat the rise in cases of COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant, and has claimed that travel restrictions could buy time, but that by themselves they are not the answer.

“To what extent should we be concerned? We must be prepared and be cautious, not panic, because we are in a different situation than a year ago”Swaminathan said.

Although the appearance of the new variant is not welcome, he noted that the world was much better prepared given the development of vaccines since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Much is still unknown about omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has been seen in at least two dozen countries. Parts of Europe were already dealing with a wave of delta-variant infections before it appeared.

“We have to wait, hopefully it’s milder, but it’s too early to draw conclusions about the variant as a whole“Swaminathan said about what was known about omicron.

“Delta accounts for 99% of infections worldwide. This variant would have to be more transmissible to overcome and become dominant throughout the world. It is possible, but it is not possible to predict it”. added.

He said the omicron variant appeared to be causing three times more infections than previously experienced in South Africa, meaning that “seems to be able to overcome some of the natural immunity from the previous infection”.

Vaccines seem to have some effect. “The fact that they are not getting sick means that vaccines continue to provide protection and we hope they will continue to do so.Swaminathan commented.

Asked about the need for annual boosters of the vaccine, she said that “the WHO is preparing for all scenarios”, Which could include an additional dose, especially among some age groups or vulnerable sectors of the population, or a modified vaccine.

He considered that the natural infection acts as a reinforcement and, although the new variant could have originated in a country where there are not a large number of genome sequences, its origin was not known. “We may never know”, He acknowledged.