Geneva: The more transmitted omicron variant of Covid-19 seems to produce less severe diseases than dominant delta tensions globally, but should not be categorized as “light” officials, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.
Janet Diaz, who led clinical management, said the initial study showed that there was a reduced risk of hospitalization from a variant first identified in South Africa and Hong Kong in November compared to Delta.
It also seems to be a reduced risk of severity to younger and older people, he told a media briefing from WHO markesters in Geneva.
He did not provide further details about the study or age of the cases analyzed, but the impact on parents is one of the big questions that have not been answered about the new variant because most cases learned so far have been in younger people.
Speaking of the same briefing in Geneva, Director General of Tedros Adhanom Ghebreesus said the variant was not considered “light” because global infections surged to records, the health care system was overwhelmed and the government struggled to tame the virus, which had killed more than 5.8 million people.
He repeated his call for greater equity globally in distribution and access to the vaccine.
Based on the pace of the current vaccine launch, 109 countries will lose the WHO target for 70% of the world’s population to be fully vaccinated in July, added Tedro.
The goal was seen as helping to end the acute phase of Pandemi.
Who’s adviser Bruce Aylward said 36 countries had not even reached 10 percent vaccination cover.
Among severe patients around the world, 80% were not vaccinated, he added.
Another variant – labeled as IHU and was first registered on September 2021 – was among those monitored by WHO but did not circulate widely, said The Who’s Technical Lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove.
There are two other significant categories larger ones used to track “variants of concerns”, which include deltas and omicrons, and “variant variants”.