WHO Chief says Omicron is less dangerous than Delta variant

Early data shows the Omicron coronavirus variant may more easily reinfect people who previously contracted had the virus or been immunised against the virus. World Health Organization Chief also stated that Omicron causes milder disease compared to previous variants.

"Emerging data from South Africa suggests a higher risk of Omicron reinfection," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Wednesday, adding that "some evidence also suggests that Omicron produces milder disease than Delta."

However, he underlined that more evidence was needed before making definite conclusions. He urged countries throughout the world to increase monitoring to help create a fuller picture of Omicron's behaviour.

The upbeat assessments came as worldwide anxiety over the significantly mutated version intensified, forcing dozens of countries to reimpose border controls and raising the prospect of a return to economically painful lockdowns.

Even if Omicron does turn out to produce less severe sickness, Tedros cautioned against losing track of the virus. He cautioned, "Any complacency now will cost lives."

Michael Ryan, WHO's director of emergencies, agreed, saying that the data thus far shows the version is "efficiently spreading, and perhaps more efficiently transmitting than the Delta variant."

He said, "That does not mean the infection is unstoppable." "However, this means that the virus is more effective in spreading between humans." As a result, we must redouble our efforts to disrupt those transmission links in order to safeguard ourselves and others."

Even if the new variant is less harmful than many earlier versions, if it spreads faster, it might sicken more people, strain health systems, and cause "more people to die," he warned.

The WHO experts emphasised the importance of vaccination, stating that even if vaccinations are less effective against Omicron, as some evidence suggests, they should still give significant protection against severe disease.

Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist at the World Health Organization, cautioned against hasty conclusions based on preliminary research suggesting the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may have had reduced efficiency against the new type.

She noted that the investigations so far had been limited, and that the reduction in "neutralising activity" varied drastically between trials, ranging from four to five-fold in some to up to 40-fold in others.

They also focused solely on antibody neutralisation, despite the fact that "we know the immune system is considerably more sophisticated than that," she added.