It is “almost certain” that the Omicron variant of the new coronavirus does not cause more serious disease than Delta, said today to the French Agency the prominent scientific adviser of the American government Dr. Anthony Fauci. He added, however, that people would have to wait “at least two more weeks” to see if the variant would prove less dangerous than Delta.
“It’s almost certain that (Omicron) is no more serious than the Delta,” said the well-known epidemiologist and White House pandemic adviser. “There are some indications that it could be less serious,” he added in a telephone interview.
“I think it will take at least another two weeks for South Africa, then when we have more infections in the rest of the world, it might take longer to see the level of severity,” he said.
Fauci pointed out that the data coming from South Africa should not be misinterpreted, explaining that the population of this country has the peculiarity of being very young.
However, the new variant is “clearly highly contagious”, probably more so than Delta, Fauci concluded.
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