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Highlight
- WHO has said that the Omicron variant is rapidly overtaking the delta variant of COVID-19
- Omicrons have been detected in all countries where we have good sequencing, it said.
- Omicron becoming dominant form being detected, says WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there is increasing evidence that the Omicron variant is able to evade immunity, but that it has a lower disease severity than other variants. In a warning, a senior WHO official has said that the Omicron version is rapidly overtaking the delta version of COVID-19 and is taking effect worldwide.
It may take some time for Omicron to overtake Delta in some countries as it depends on the level of circulation of the Delta variant in those countries, infectious disease epidemiologists at the World Health Organization (WHO) and COVID-19 said technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove. on Tuesday.
“Omicron has been found in all countries where we have good sequencing and is likely to occur in all countries around the world. It rapidly, in terms of its circulation, outnumbers Delta. And so Omicron becomes the dominant form. which is being ascertained,” Kerkhov said during a virtual question-and-answer session.
She further cautioned that even though there is some information that Omicron causes less severe illness than Delta, “it is not a mild illness” because “people are still hospitalized for Omicron.”
The COVID-19 weekly epidemiological update released by the WHO states that over 15 million new COVID-19 cases were reported globally in the week of January 3-9, an increase of 55 percent over the previous week. when about 9.5 million cases were reported.
There were more than 43,000 new deaths in the past week. As of 9 January, there have been over 304 million confirmed COVD-19 cases and over 5.4 million deaths.
The highest number of new cases were reported from the US (4,610,359 new cases; an increase of 73 per cent), France (1,597,203 new cases; an increase of 46 per cent), the UK (1,217,258 new cases; an increase of 10 per cent), Italy (1,014,358 new cases; 57 per cent increase). percent increase) and India (638,872 new cases; an increase of 524 percent), the update said.
Kerkhov said the 15 million cases reported in the past seven days are “a record high in this pandemic” and “underestimated” given the challenges in surveillance around the world and at-home COVID-19 self-tests that are not registered. Huh.
The WHO update states that the Omicron variant has substantial growth gains and is rapidly replacing other variants.
“This variant has been shown to have a shorter doubling time than previous variants, even among people who have been vaccinated or with a history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection; There is increasing evidence that this variant is able to evade immunity,” the update said.
It said that in terms of disease severity, there is increasing evidence that the Omicron variant is less severe than the other variants.
Citing a non-peer-reviewed retrospective cohort study from the US, the update said the findings suggest that the absolute number of cases and hospitalizations currently among children is increasing in the US, compared with other age groups. The risk of hospitalization is still low in comparison. The period during which Omicron was circulating compared to the period when the delta version was in effect.
The update also mentioned that since December, six studies have provided evidence of low Vaccine Effectiveness (VE) of COVID-19 vaccines against the Omicron variant.
“While the initial VE estimates against the Omicron variant should be interpreted with caution because of potential biases, these preliminary results provide evidence of a decrease in the overall effectiveness of vaccines against the Omicron variant, relative to the delta while increasing since vaccination.” With a greater decline in effectiveness with . .. while a booster vaccination appears to improve VE against infection and hospitalization due to the Omicron variant, more data are needed to assess both the magnitude and duration of protection. occurs,” the update said.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) said that as the coronavirus evolves, the composition of current COVID-19 vaccines may need to be updated, to ensure that “Continue providing COVID-19 vaccines to WHO. Recommended levels of protection against infection and disease by VOCs, including -Omicron and future variants.
Kerkhov said that as Omicron enters vulnerable populations and spreads, “we will see an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. So please take this virus as seriously as it needs to be treated.” That it is common cold is not true. The narrative that it is only mild is not true. So we really have to fight against it. This is not the time to give up.”
(with inputs from PTI)
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