The ECDC urges to tighten measures in the face of omicron expansion: “Vaccination alone will not prevent its impact”

The variant omicron continues to spread across Europe. In his last report, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) has expressed concern about this situation, pointing out that there are indicators that it is already occurring community spread in European countries and that a rapid increase in cases is expected in the next two months.

In fact, according to the estimates of the aforementioned body, it is likely that omicron becomes the dominant variant of the coronavirus in the region in the first two months of the year 2022.

In addition, since there is no conclusive data on the severity of the disease caused by this mutation, the ECDC warns that, even if the severity is equal to or less than delta -the dominant variant at the moment- the “greater transmissibility and the resulting exponential case growth will quickly outweigh any benefits, “so it is “very likely” that omicron will cause additional deaths and hospitalizations.

In addition, the ECDC notes that there is a lack of data on the effectiveness of vaccines against omicron, although it cites preliminary studies performed in the laboratory that point to a reduced neutralization capacity before this variant.

In any case, the center warns that “strong and immediate reductions” in the rate of contacts are needed to avoid a peak in omicron cases, “even with an immediate acceleration of vaccination.” Thus, given the “imminent probable predominance” of this variant, urges tightening of non-pharmaceutical measures “without delay”.

Its immediate reinforcement, he says, will stop the expansion of omicron and allow countries to “buy time” to continue advancing with vaccination and the administration of booster doses. If not, warn, transmission levels could overwhelm healthcare systems Europeans quickly.

Therefore, the ECDC urges to take action “urgently and strongly” and call reintroduce and toughen measures quickly. In this sense, it calls avoid large meetings public or private, encourage the use of a mask, reduce contacts in social and work environments, telecommute, run more tests and carry out a strong contact tracing.

In turn, it points out that the authorities should consider advising a reduction of meetings between different living units and exercise extreme caution when traveling or meeting older people during the Christmas holidays.

Vaccination alone insufficient

“In the current situation, vaccination alone will not allow us to prevent the impact of the omicron variant, because there will not be time to address the gaps that still exist in vaccination, “said the director of the ECDC, Andrea Ammon, who has indicated that it is” urgent “to adopt a” strong action. “

“It remains a priority wear masks properly, telecommute, prevent crowds in public spaces and on public transport, staying at home if we are sick, maintaining hand and respiratory hygiene measures and ensuring adequate ventilation in closed spaces, “added Dr. Ammon, who warns that, if these measures are lifted , there may be a “strong resurgence” of cases.

In addition, it calls for prioritizing contact tracing for probable or confirmed cases of omicron infection, regardless of the vaccination status of the affected person. In this sense, he has highlighted the importance of testing and isolating positive cases.