Omicron may pose higher reinfection risk but could be milder than Delta: WHO chief

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GENEVA — Early data indicates the Omicron Covid variant may more easily reinfect people who have already had the virus or been vaccinated than previous variants, but could also cause milder disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Wednesday (Dec 8).

"Emerging data from South Africa suggests increased risk of reinfection with Omicron," World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, adding that"there is also some evidence that Omicron causes milder disease than Delta".

The hopeful assessments came as global concern grew over the heavily mutated variant, which has forced dozens of nations to re-impose border restrictions and raised the possibility of a return to economically punishing lockdowns. Even if the new variant turns out to be less dangerous than previous variants, if it transmits more rapidly, it could still sicken more people, overburden health systems,"and more people die," he said.

Chief WHO scientist Soumya Swaminathan cautioned against knee-jerk reactions to early studies hinting that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may have reduced efficacy against the new variant.

 

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