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New Delhi: Crowd of passengers on the New Delhi Railway station amid COVID-19 pandemic
Highlights
- Omicron variant is shortly overtaking the Delta variant of COVID-19, the WHO has stated
- Omicron has been detected in all international locations the place we now have good sequencing, it stated
- Omicron is changing into the dominant variant that’s being detected, the WHO has stated
There may be growing proof to point out the Omicron variant is ready to evade immunity however has much less illness severity as in comparison with different variants, the World Well being Organisation (WHO) has stated. Giving out warnings, a senior official with the WHO has stated the Omicron variant is shortly overtaking the Delta variant of COVID-19 and changing into dominant world wide.
It may take a while for Omicron to overhaul Delta in some international locations as a result of it will depend on the extent of circulation of the Delta variant in these international locations, Infectious Illness Epidemiologist and COVID-19 Technical Lead on the World Well being Organisation (WHO) Maria Van Kerkhove stated on Tuesday.
“Omicron has been detected in all international locations the place we now have good sequencing and it is prone to be in all international locations world wide. It’s shortly, when it comes to its circulation, overtaking Delta. And so Omicron is changing into the dominant variant that’s being detected,” Kerkhove stated throughout a digital questions and solutions session.
She additional cautioned that despite the fact that there’s some info that Omicron causes much less extreme illness than Delta, “it isn’t a light illness” as a result of “individuals are nonetheless being hospitalized for Omicron.”
The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Replace, launched by the WHO, stated that over 15 million new COVID-19 instances had been reported globally within the week of January 3-9, a 55 per cent improve as in comparison with the earlier week when about 9.5 million instances had been reported.
Over 43,000 new deaths had been reported previously week. As of 9 January, over 304 million confirmed COVD-19 instances and over 5.4 million deaths have been reported.
The best numbers of recent instances had been reported from the US (4,610,359 new instances; a 73 per cent improve), France (1,597,203 new instances; a 46 per cent improve), the UK (1,217,258 new instances; a ten per cent improve), Italy (1,014,358 new instances; a 57 per cent improve) and India (638,872 new instances; a 524 per cent improve), the replace stated.
Kerkhove stated the 15 million instances reported within the final seven days are a “file excessive on this pandemic” and are an “underestimate” given the challenges in surveillance world wide and COVID-19 self-tests at residence that aren’t registered.
The WHO replace stated that the Omicron variant has a considerable development benefit and is quickly changing different variants.
“This variant has been proven to have a shorter doubling time as in comparison with earlier variants, with transmission occurring even amongst these vaccinated or with a historical past of prior SARS-CoV-2 an infection; there’s growing proof that this variant is ready to evade immunity,” the replace stated.
It stated that when it comes to illness severity, there’s rising proof that the Omicron variant is much less extreme as in comparison with different variants.
Citing a non-peer-reviewed retrospective cohort examine from the US, the replace stated the findings recommend that whereas absolutely the variety of instances and hospitalisations amongst youngsters are presently growing within the US, the chance of hospitalisation nonetheless stays decrease in comparison with different age teams in the course of the interval when Omicron is circulating as in comparison with the interval when the Delta variant was dominant.
The replace additionally famous that since December, six research have supplied proof of decreased vaccine effectiveness (VE) of COVID-19 vaccines towards the Omicron variant.
“Whereas early VE estimates towards the Omicron variant must be interpreted with warning because of potential biases, these preliminary outcomes present proof of decreased general effectiveness of vaccines towards the Omicron variant, with higher declines in effectiveness with growing time since vaccination, relative to Delta… Whereas a booster vaccination seems to enhance VE towards an infection and hospitalisation because of the Omicron variant, extra knowledge are wanted to evaluate each the magnitude and length of the safety,” the replace stated.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) stated that as coronavirus evolves, the composition of present COVID-19 vaccines could must be up to date, to make sure that “COVID-19 vaccines proceed to offer WHO-recommended ranges of safety towards an infection and illness by VOCs, together with Omicron and future variants.”
Kerkhove added that as Omicron enters and circulates amongst weak populations, “we are going to see a rise in hospitalisations and deaths. So please deal with this virus as severely because it must be handled. The narrative that it is the frequent chilly isn’t true. The narrative that it’s simply delicate isn’t true. So we now have to actually struggle towards it. It’s not the time to surrender.”
(With inputs from PTI)
Additionally Learn | Omicron mutating however illness severity stays delicate, exhibits Delhi’s LNJP Hospital examine
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