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COVID-19: Can Existing Vaccines Protect You From Omicron Variant? What WHO Says

COVID-19: Can Existing Vaccines Protect You From Omicron Variant? What WHO Says
COVID-19: Can Existing Vaccines Protect You From Omicron Variant? What WHO Says

The World Health Organisation has clearly said that the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Covid variants.

Written by Satata Karmakar |Updated : December 8, 2021 11:08 AM IST

The arrival of the Omicron variant is a gentle reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet. While the world is back to re-imposition of the restrictions to contain the spread of the Omicron, experts have said that vaccines are the only tool to fight the odds of the deadly COVID-19 virus. The highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 - Omicron has over 50 mutations, which makes it hard for the vaccines to protect an individual from getting infected, however, there is something more that you need to know before you make a choice about the available vaccines against coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday answered all the queries that a person might have in regards to the vaccines and their efficacy in providing protection against the newly detected Omicron variant of COVID-19. Addressing a press meet, the global health body said that existing vaccines should protect people who contract the Omicron Covid variant against the worst outcomes of the disease. This means a fully vaccinated individual may get infected by the Omicron variant, but the severity or the requirement of hospitalization will be extremely low.

"The virus hasn't changed its nature. It may have changed in terms of its efficiency, but it hasn't changed the game entirely," WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told IANS. He further added that there is so far no sign that Omicron could fully sidestep protections provided by existing Covid vaccines. "Omicron does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Covid variants and is "highly unlikely" to fully dodge vaccine protections," AFP quoted Ryan as saying.

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Omicron Vs Delta

The World Health Organisation has clearly said that the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 does not appear to cause more severe disease than previous Covid variants. Compared to Delta it may show some new features such as more mutations in the spike protein and may also transmit easily from one to another, but the severity with this variant will be low (based on the preliminary studies). "Omicron is more transmissible than Delta variant of COVID-19, but it is not more dangerous than it," experts quoted as saying.

Let's understand the two variants deeply from what Dr. Fauci said today:

Transmissibility

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is 'highly transmissible than the other strains like Delta, Alpha, etc, however, it is not more dangerous than the Delta variant.

Can Omicron Evade Through Vaccine Barrier?

The answer is 'yes' (based on the researches done so far). The omicron variant has 50 mutations and out of these 30 mutations in the spike protein is concerning as they may help the virus to evade the vaccine immunity. "There is some suggestion that it might even be less severe because when you look at some of the cohorts that are being followed in South Africa, the ratio between the number of infections and the number of hospitalizations seems to be less than with Delta," Dr. Fauci said.

Keep Your Masks On!

Even though social distancing and hand sanitation are important to stay safe from the virus infection, a new study has stated that wearing a face mask is better than social distancing at preventing you from catching Covid. The researchers said that covering the face with a proper mask could lower the risk by up to 225 times, compared to solely relying on a three-metre rule.

(With inputs from Agencies)