After going through the turmoil of the next two months, with the launch of the Omicron strain, then with more composure, new tools and without being in hospitals “in the red”, we will be able to plan our coexistence with the virus which in any case will remain a hoarse whose pressure however will be more manageable.
This was stated by Ioannis Prassas, Doctor of Molecular Biology, University of Toronto, speaking to SKAI about the Omicron mutation.
We can not say that 2022 will not be the year that we will not go to a smoother coexistence with the virus, the professor estimated.
Every time a big pandemic wave comes, there is always a wave of hospitalizations. How big the wave of hospitalizations will be and what damage it will cause depends on how prepared the hospitals will be and how strong the wave will be in the end, he added.
According to the professor, we have already started to learn a lot about this new executive,
As he explained, it is precisely this knowledge that has emerged, justifies the feeling of great concern in the scientific community.
In particular, he recalled that scientists have found that this new coronary strain has the ability to “grow” within a community much faster than previous strains.
“It can and does build much stronger transmission networks because now in these transmission networks the vaccinated are much more involved,” he said, further explaining that this definitely concerns the double vaccinated and will affect the triple vaccinated to a lesser extent however.
According to Mr. Prassas, this was not perceived by the previous executives and will result in an almost vertical rise in the height of the wave that will hit us.
“Let us first clarify that for most who have secured their full vaccination, whether they are younger with double vaccination or with a third dose – and even better – triple vaccination (all seniors), at individual level their risk is relatively low.” analyzing how likely these groups of citizens are to get seriously ill and enter the ICU.
“Those who have been fully vaccinated, their risk of entering the ICU is very small,” he said. immunosuppression, vulnerability or old age status remain vulnerable to the possibility of hospitalization if infected.
The size of the tank is such that if we “let the wave rise” and many of them get sick at the same time, it will put a lot of pressure on the hospitals.
According to Mr. Prassas, what will possibly do, now, worse things is that all this will be added to the already aggravated situation we are experiencing.
In fact, the professor referred to the decisions of the competent committee of experts in Ontario, which despite being in a phase of “great pandemic calm”, as he characteristically described it, with minimal deaths, absence of delta mutation in the community and a few cases will apply strict measures to much more difficult restrictive measures are avoided.
“They are predicting a tsunami of infections which we do not know exactly to what extent it will turn into a big wave of hospitalizations,” he said.
“If in Ontario of 2,000 total ICUs with only 100 occupied, there is this vigilance, think how vigilant there must be in Greece where our ICUs are almost already full, the delta is already circulating in the community at a great pace and we will already have a to face a double pandemic “he added, emphasizing that he does not want to cause panic but that we should all realize the stake.
Mr. Prassas further clarified that in reality we are not able to know how much more contagious it is compared to the delta but we know that it is very capable of spreading rapidly in the community because it escapes the attention of antibodies.
“As for the severity of the disease it causes, the predictions that are being heard now are really completely sloppy and dangerous,” the professor said, referring to allegations that the disease with the Omicron strain resembling a simple cold.
“We do not have the slightest indication that for some reason the virus has started to wear out or become less dangerous,” he said.
The professor summarized that the ability of this particular strain to hide from the antibodies we have made makes it easier to become infected and re-infected.
However, this does not mean that the risk of getting seriously ill and ending up in an ICU is the same in perpetuity, as every time we have a layer of immunity the chances decrease.
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