The existing vaccines against COVID-19 “work against all the variants that are currently circulating,” said the head of the anti-COVID cell of the World Health Organization (WHO), Maria Van Kerkhove, given the rise of the omicron strain, which has infected many vaccinated people.
Despite the fact that the omicron variant seems to reduce the neutralization capacity of vaccines, which explains these infections of the vaccinated, these drugs “continue to be very effective in preventing serious forms of the disease and reducing deaths,” said the American expert in Rueda. press.
Asked whether citizens should increase their prevention measures in the face of the high number of infections around the world, Van Kerkhove recommended the same gestures that have become widespread in 2020 “in order to reduce the risk of exposure.”
The expert recalled in this regard the need to maintain physical distance from other people, to avoid meetings of people in poorly ventilated places, and especially insisted on “wearing appropriate masks” and correctly.
“Wearing the mask under the nose or on the chin is useless and gives you a false sense of security,” warned Van Kerkhove, who asked positive cases to isolate themselves, make efforts not to transmit the virus and alert their contacts who have contracted COVID-19.
“Basically, we ask everyone to make their contribution,” said the expert, who acknowledged that “it is amazing how fast this variant is transmitted, but any other could also do so in similar situations.”
The director of Health Emergencies of the WHO, Mike Ryan, added that one of the best protections in the current wave of infections is “to get vaccinated when you have access to doses.”
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