“So far, the signals are a bit encouraging,” said Anthony Fauci (File)
Washington:
Top US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci said on Sunday the early signs of the severity of the Covid-19 variant of Omicron were “a bit encouraging”.
“Omicron has a transmission advantage” in South Africa, where the variant was first reported, Fauci said in an interview with CNN, noting that the variant was first reported, Fauci said in an interview with CNN. the country had low case levels before seeing “almost vertical spikes upwards, almost only Omicrons. “
“While it’s too early to really make any definitive statements about it, so far there doesn’t appear to be any seriousness to it,” he said.
“So far, the signals are a bit encouraging.”
Health experts in recent days have emphasized that South Africa’s population is trending younger and more severe cases could emerge in the coming weeks.
Laboratory tests are underway to determine if Omicron – a heavily mutated strain of the virus – is more transmissible than other strains, resistant to immunity from vaccinations and infections, or More severe or not, with results expected within weeks.
“I think there’s a real risk that we’re going to see a decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccine,” Stephen Hoge, president of the vaccine company Moderna, told the ABC.
“What I don’t know is how important it is,” he added. “Is that the kind of thing we’ve seen with the Delta variant, which means the vaccine is still effective in the end, or are we going to see something like a 50% reduction in effectiveness, which means we need to restart the vaccine.”
Moderna, like other pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, has begun work on adapting their vaccines if needed.
Cases of the Omicron variant have so far been confirmed in at least 15 states and about 40 countries.
Last week, the United States imposed a travel ban on South Africa and seven other South African countries to prevent the spread of this variant.
Fauci said Sunday that he expects the restrictions to be lifted “within a fairly reasonable amount of time.”
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