Le Matin – Covid-19: Omicron’s genetic profile suggests a “decline in the effectiveness” of vaccines, according to the WHO

According to the World Health Organization, “this decline in the effectiveness of existing anti-Govt vaccines is mainly due to protection against infection and spread.”

The WHO said Sunday that the omigran variant of the corona virus responsible for Govit-19 is more prevalent than the delta variant, causing less severe symptoms and making vaccines less effective, which underscores the fact that the data are incomplete.

Omicron is now in 63 countries, the company said in a technical update, which confirms the reports of its executives in recent days.

According to the WHO, the Omicron delta is spreading faster than the variant, which is currently the cause of most infections in the world. This rapid spread is found only in South Africa, where the delta was low, but also in the United Kingdom, where this variation dominates.

Omicron “The WHO does not yet know whether this high prevalence rate in people with high immunity is due to immunosuppression, benefit from intrinsic high contagion, or ‘a combination of the two’ – due to a lack of adequate data. The organization predicts that Omicron will perform better than Delta.
Data are not yet sufficient to establish the severity of the disease caused by Omigran, although symptoms currently appear to be “mild to moderate” in South Africa, where it was diagnosed, and in Europe.

With regard to Govt vaccines, the limited data available and Omigron’s genetic profile suggest a “decrease in effectiveness” in terms of protection against “infection and spread”.

For their part, Pfizer and BioNTech Labs – which have developed the Cominarty vaccine, which was by far the most effective against Covit – promised last weekend that it would be “even more effective” after three doses against Omicron.

Most countries that can afford it are already encouraging people to get a booster dose. It is facing a new wave of infections caused by delta, especially in Europe, following the early abandonment of health restrictions, but sometimes not enough vaccination rates.