Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP / Getty Images
For: EFE
Thursday, November 28
WHO confirms that vaccinated and cured of COVID-19 can be infected by Omicron
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today that there is robust evidence that people who have been vaccinated against COVID – 19 or those who were infected in the past can contract the Omicron variant , whose spread is accelerating day by day around the world.
At an exclusive press conference for the international press in Geneva, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the information being analyzed about omicron indicates that this variant circulates more quickly that the previous ones and that “ it is likely that those vaccinated and those who have been cured of covid become infected or reinfected “.
The person in charge called everyone to become aware of this situation within a few days of the end of the year festivities, pointing out that it is better to cancel the celebrations tions now “and celebrate life tomorrow”, than “celebrate today and mourn tomorrow.”
“This is very serious and we are very concerned (about omicron),” stressed Tedros, adding that the reports that would indicate that this variant causes a more moderate disease than delta (the predominant variant worldwide) may not be representative. .
For this reason, he asked the government to exercise maximum caution in the coming weeks and avoid events with the presence of many people and that could become virus super-spreaders.
Next 31 December will mark two years since the WHO received the first notification of cases of pneumonia of unknown type detected in China , which turned out to be caused by a new coronavirus that has so far caused 5.5 million deaths and 272 million cases around the world.
In terms of infections and deaths, the second year of the pandemic was worse than the first, since in the last twelve months deaths rose to 3.3 million, which exceeds the accumulated deaths from malaria , tuberculosis and AIDS worldwide.
Tedros argued that if the world wants to end the acute phase of the pandemic in 2022 the problem of inequality between countries in terms of access to the tools that exist to stop COVID must be resolved – 19, including vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments.
He raised that the common objective should be that by the middle of next year the 70% of the population of each country (a goal that had been set for this end of the year).
WHO experts said they are not against booster doses against covid or deny the role they have, but recalled that the decision of rich countries to offer them to their entire adult population plays against that risk groups in poor countries can have access to vaccines for a first or second dose.
The 80% of patients hospitalized for COVID are people who have been vaccinated , according to the data collected by the organization in the international arena.
How often a covid vaccine will have to be received constitutes one of the big questions at this stage of the pandemic, to which the WHO still cannot answer, although it has advanced that it will depend of a number of factors, such as the type of vaccine, since its effectiveness differs slightly from one product to another.
Other factors will be future variants that appear and the individual’s own biology (age, underlying health problems and status of your immune system)
Studies continue to show that there is a reduction in immunity among vaccinated people for around six months.
“At the moment, we think that the booster shot should be for people with weak immune systems, for the elderly, “said WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan.
Ómicron has surprised scientists among other things because it was not thought that a more transmissible variant than delta could appear and because it does not come from a mutation of the latter, but from another lineage, which shows that “ this virus is unpredictable. ”
“ We can’t predict the next variant, but sure ( the virus) will continue to evolve and in the face of this the only thing we can do is stop the transmission ”, emphasized Swaminathan.
It may interest you:
· Anthony Fauci warns that US hospitals will be filled again by Ómicron
· Moderna ensures that her booster dose increases protection against Ómicron · Omicron: the new variant increases the risk of reinfection by coronavirus, according to a preliminary study in South Africa