Covid vaccines should work against omicrons, says WHO director

There is no evidence that omicron causes more serious disease than previous Covid-19 variants, and “there is no reason to doubt” the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant, a senior WHO official told AFP on Tuesday. fair (7).

“We have very effective vaccines that have proven their power against the variants so far, in terms of disease severity and hospitalization,” WHO director of emergencies, Michael Ryan, said in an interview.

“There’s no reason to think it won’t be that way” with omicron, Ryan continued, pointing to preliminary data from South Africa, the first country to detect the strain, which “suggests the vaccine holds up for protection” .

Given the panic generated by the appearance of this new variant, with many mutations and apparently more contagious, the number two of the WHO guaranteed that the first studies do not point to a more virulent version of the coronavirus.

“Preliminary data don’t indicate it’s more serious. In fact, in any case, the direction points to less seriousness,” Ryan said, insisting that more research was needed.

“It’s too early, we have to be cautious in how we interpret these signals,” he added.

Vaccine is “best weapon”

Ryan admitted that there is a possibility that the existing vaccines lose some effectiveness against the omicron, which has more than 30 mutations of the extra spike protein that allows the invasion of cells.

It is “highly unlikely”, however, that it can escape all the protections brought by the vaccine, said the 56-year-old epidemiologist.

“We have to confirm if there is any loophole in that protection, but I believe it’s the same protection.”

“Preliminary data from South Africa does not indicate that we will have a catastrophic loss of effectiveness. In fact, it’s the other way around for now,” Ryan continued, assuring that “the best weapon we have right now is vaccination.”

Just two weeks after its detection was announced in South Africa on November 24, the omicron variant has already been found in dozens of countries around the world.

Early data from South Africa indicate that the new variant is more transmissible than its predecessors, which is no surprise to Ryan.

“When a new variant appears, it tends to be more transferable because it has to compete with the previous variants,” he explained.

same rules

The Irish doctor predicts that omicron will gradually replace delta, currently the dominant variant, initially detected in India and also more contagious.

But it does indicate that, until now, omicron has spread rapidly, especially in South Africa, where the delta variant was declining, which could mean it is “exploiting the gap in delta transmission”.

He also indicated that, with the new variant, infection of people who are vaccinated or have already had Covid-19 is easier. “There is evidence to suggest that reinfection with omicrons is more common than with earlier waves or variants.”

But “we’re not particularly interested in whether you can be reinfected with omicrons, but whether a new infection is more or less serious,” he insisted.

In this regard, Ryan pointed out that current vaccines seek to prevent serious illnesses, but not necessarily protect against contagion, so re-infections without symptoms or with mild symptoms were less of a concern.

Anyway, Ryan highlighted that the new variant is still the coronavirus and must be fought with the same measures: vaccines, masks and physical distance.

“The virus hasn’t changed in nature. It may have changed in terms of efficiency, but it didn’t change the game,” he recalled. “The rules of the game are still the same.”