The development comes as a senior World Health Organization (WHO) the epidemiologist repeated the agency’s message that countries cannot “step up” out of the pandemic, while the Omicron variant is transmitting “violently,” just as the Delta variant did.
Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said: “In a context of strong social intersections, in the context of limited use of proven public health measures, in the context of limited coverage of immunization across the world demand… those are the conditions that allow any variant, any virus, to thrive,” Dr Maria Van Kerkhove told BBC radio. “Omicron is taking advantage of that, and so is Delta.”
Global scope
Before the holiday season, 128 countries reported that they had identified Omicron, the WHO said, during a scheduled press conference in Geneva.
WHO epidemiologist Dr Abdi Mahamud told journalists there was not yet enough data to say whether the Omicron variant was less severe than other variants. Coronavirus strains.
He notes that in London, which has been “very badly affected” by the number of COVID-19 Infection and hospitalization rates are now about 20% lower than they were in 2020, before a vaccine was available.
“So the key message is, if you’re vaccinated, you’re protected, but if you’re vulnerable or if you’re unvaccinated, this Omicron – whether mild or mild it can be for other people – it can hit you very hard.” he say. “So vaccinations (are) very important.”
The WHO epidemiologist notes that an increasing number of studies are showing that the Omicron variant appears to primarily affect the upper respiratory tract, causing milder symptoms.
Other strains affect the lungs and can cause severe pneumonia, he said, but more research is still needed to substantiate this Omicron assessment.
“The challenge is not the vaccine, but vaccinating the most vulnerable populations,” he said, before urging more countries to push for 70% vaccine coverage as soon as possible. good.
Dr Mahamud went on to say that without the vaccine’s level of protection, the virus “replicates in an overcrowded, unventilated and unvaccinated environment”.
“We’ve seen it in Beta, we’ve seen it in Delta, we’ve seen it in Omicron, so it’s in the global interest to vaccinate 70 percent of the population,” he said.
© UNICEF / Srishti Bhardwaj
A lab technician collects patient samples for covid testing in New Delhi, India.
Fair share
The WHO’s call for vaccine equity is not new and comes as many wealthy countries are considering offering a fourth coronavirus vaccine to their people.
Before Christmas, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus alert that “intensification programs” have the potential to prolong the pandemic “by redirecting supplies to countries that already have high levels of vaccine coverage, giving the virus more opportunity to spread and mutate.” than”.
The WHO chief stressed that the priority must be to help countries inoculate 40% of their population as quickly as possible and 70% by mid-2022.
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