Omicron will not be last Covid variant, future mutations could be adept at surviving: WHO amid surge
Mangalore Today News Network
New Delhi, Jan 24, 2022: With the Omicron cases surging across the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been cautioning people to get vaccinated and continue the use of masks. The WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said that Omicron will not be the last variant of the coronavirus and there could be more in the future.
"This virus is still evolving and changing and we need to change and adjust accordingly. We not only have to increase the vaccination coverage around the world, but also try and transition out. It will not end with the latest wave and Omicron will not be the last variant we speak about, unfortunately," Maria van Kerkhove told the BBC in an interview.
She added that out of 10 billion dosages of vaccines administered throughout the world since the rollout of the vaccine, there are still three billion people who are yet to get the first dose. So, we still have a highly susceptible population and even if some countries are further along, we have to treat this global problem with global solutions.
Speaking on the growing speculation around Omicron being the last mutation and that its symptoms are milder, Maria van Kerkhove said that there is this narrative that Omicron is mild, it is not Mild. She added that it is less severe than Delta, but it is still putting people in hospitals, especially those who are not vaccinated and have comorbidities.
"There is a suggestion that future variants will be less severe and that’s not a certainty. We expect more variants to emerge which could be fitter and more evolved than Omicron to survive. There is no guarantee that they will be less severe and they may have evolved properties that may render our countermeasures ineffective," she added.
"This virus is spreading really intensely, the challenge ahead is to get the balance right with measures required to reduce the spread. We are asking people to be very cautious," she said.
Speaking on the endgame of the virus she said that the pandemic will end and we will not always be in this cycle. However, she did not comment on how long will take if it will be over in months, or will it take years.
The latest statement comes amid WHO’s Europe director Hans Kluge saying that once the current Omicron wave is over in Europe, the pandemic situation could be over in the region even as the virus may come back by the end of this year. "It’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame. There will be for quite some weeks and months a global immunity, either thanks to the vaccine or because people have immunity due to the infection, and also lower seasonality," Kluge was quoted as saying by AFP.
Meanwhile, India on Monday reported 3,06,064 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, 8.2 per cent lower than a day before. While the daily cases saw a dip of over 27,000 cases from Sunday, the daily positivity rate was up from 17.18 per cent to 20.75 per cent.
Courtesy:India Today