According to Bloomberg News, the new Covid variant that is being called the Omicron is 4.2 times more powerful in terms of the capacity to transmit in the initial stages as compared to Delta. It was found out as per a study that was carried out by a Japanese scientist that extends advice to the health ministry of the country, a finding which is likely to confirm the prevailing fears related to the strain’s infection ability.
A professor of health and environmental sciences, Hiroshi Nishiura associated with the Kyoto University analyzed the genome data that was available following November 26th infections in South Africa in the province of Gauteng. Professor Hiroshi Nishiura specializes in mathematical modeling related to infectious diseases.
Nishiura in his findings indicates that the new Covid variant Omicron is more transmissible and can escape the immunity that is built through vaccines even more. the findings were tabled at a meeting during the health ministry’s panel Wednesday.
There are increasing concerns that the new variant could cause the world to reel under a threat that is more severe than the Delta variant. The World Health Organization has sent caution across the globe that the variant could lead to severe consequences. However, despite an increase in the number of cases in South Africa, the hospitals have not been under pressure yet setting hopes and optimism that the new variant may just cause milder symptoms.
Bloomberg News reports that BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. believe that a booster dose of their vaccine could offer much-needed protection against the new strain. As such many believe that the threat of Omicron might be met with just an extra vaccine dose.
There has been no peer review or publishing of Nishiura’s study in any scientific journal as yet. Using similar methods as he used in an analysis in a July study that was published by Eurosurveillance medical journal related to the Delta variant dominance and forecast just before the Tokyo Olympics, he carried out the new analysis.
There are hundreds of researchers across the globe that are striving hard to understand the nature of the new variant Omicron. This strain is the most differentiated as compared to the other five variants that the World Health Organization has identified so far ever since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to Bloomberg News, the cases related to the new variant Omicron in South Africa have increased to as many as 20,000 per day since the first case of Omicron that was reported two weeks back. In the initial weeks, the number of cases related to the new variant was at the lower end, although only 26% of the population is vaccinated, as per Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker.
By the end of the year, Pfizer Inc will come to know the efficacy of the vaccine against the new variant Omicron.
