Preliminary tests show that the effect of Omicron is not as severe compared to other COVID-19 variants, according to top scientists of the World Health Organization and the United States. However, more studies are needed about this.
Due to fears of Omicron, many countries are closing the border again to prevent the entry of the new virus variant that first appeared in South Africa.
It also causes chaos in other countries due to enforcement from lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus.
In a report by Agence France-Presse, a WHO official said that although Omicron could infect more quickly, it could be affected by COVID-19 vaccines.
“The preliminary data doesn’t indicate that this is more severe. In fact, if anything, the direction is towards less severity,” according to WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, who also said more studies are needed.
“We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalization… There’s no reason to expect that it wouldn’t be so” for Omicron,” he added.
On the other hand, Ryan admitted that the effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron might be reduced due to its more than 30 mutations in the spike protein.
Omicron possibly not as strong as other COVID-19 variants – experts
Top US scientist Anthony Fauci also revealed that the effect of Omicron might also be just weak compared to different variants.
“It almost certainly is not more severe than Delta,” said Fauci. “There is some suggestion that it might even be less severe.”
However, the official cautioned not to “over-interpret” the data because the number followed were young people who were less likely to be hospitalized.
In addition, it also takes a few weeks to see if the effects of the virus become severe.
“Then as we get more infections throughout the rest of the world, it might take longer to see what’s the level of severity,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente said he remains optimistic about increased arrivals for the holiday season despite the travel restrictions implemented due to the Omicron virus.
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