NEW DELHI, Feb 1: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned the governments and people in different countries against dropping guards against Coronavirus and said it was closely tracking the Omicron variants as these were evolving. WHO tracking sub-lineages of Omicron variant
In a message on Tuesday the WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “It is premature for any country either to surrender or to declare victory. This virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes. WHO is currently tracking four sub-lineages of the Omicron variant of concern, including BA.2. At the same time, it is also clear that as this virus evolves, vaccines may need to evolve. Variants of SARS-CoV-2 may continue to escape neutralising antibodies induced by vaccines against prior variants.”
The South African government, however, has relaxed isolation rules for asymptomatic COVID-19 positive people and removed the one-meter social distancing requirements at schools, as the country exits its fourth wave of the coronavirus. South Africa remained at the lowest Level one of its five-level lockdown strategy during the fourth wave, which was largely driven by the new Omicron variant during its peak holiday season in December and January
Even as a study revealed that Omicron sub variant spreads more than original strain, another study show that the current Covid-19 vaccines provide robust protection against severe disease and hospitalisation caused by both the Delta and Omicron variants.
The research, published in the journal Nature on Monday, demonstrated that the vaccines induce this protection through cellular immunity or the production of protective immune cells, such as so-called killer and memory cells. Cellular immunity continues to protect from severe Covid-19 disease despite the Omicron variant’s evasion of neutralising antibodies, the researchers said.
(Manas Dasgupta)