Omigron appears to increase the rate of re-infection, but has less severe symptoms

The omigran variant of the corona virus that causes COVID-19 appears to have a higher recurrence rate, but causes less severe symptoms than the delta variant, the WHO boss stressed Wednesday.

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“Early data from South Africa suggest a higher risk of re-infection with Omicron, but more data are needed to make definitive conclusions. There is some evidence that Omigron is causing less severe symptoms than Delta, but it’s too soon to be confirmed again,” said Tedros Adanom Caprais at the World Organization Meeting in Geneva. Said.

To get an accurate picture of the characteristics of the variance quickly, he asked all countries to contribute to his assessment by submitting their data to the agency. He called on all nations to continue their efforts on the basis of vaccinations and sanctions to combat it effectively.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO’s Chief Scientist, also returned to the initial studies published in recent days, showing that this variant reduces the effectiveness of vaccines from Pfizer and Bioentech, and called for greater caution in interpreting them.

“There is a big difference in the effectiveness of antibodies that are 4 to 5 times less and 40 times less in these different studies, which is limited in studying the effect of antibodies,” he said, adding that the immune system is more complex.

“It is a foregone conclusion that a reduction in the neutralizing activity of antibodies will lead to a significant reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines.”

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