The Federal Ministry of Health said on Friday that the severity of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) caused by the Omicron variant in India may be less severe due to the “fast pace” of vaccination and large exposure to the Delta variant. The ministry stated that the new variant of concern may spread to more countries, including India, but the scale and extent of the increase in the number of infections is still unclear.

The ministry said in a statement: “Given the fast vaccination rate in India and the high seroprevalence rate justifying high exposure to Delta variants, the severity of the disease is expected to be low.” “However, scientific evidence remains. It is constantly evolving.”

The Ministry emphasized that based on the observed mutations, its predicted characteristics of increased transmission and immune evasion, and preliminary evidence of harmful changes in Covid-19 epidemiology, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Omicron as a variant of concern, such as reinfection Increase. It emphasizes the importance of using existing vaccines to vaccinate the Covid-19 vaccine, as they are expected to still provide protection against serious diseases.

Although the ministry said it is waiting for definite evidence of relief and increased immune evasion, a preliminary study by South African researchers suggests that Omicron variants are related to the ability to evade immunity from previous infections. According to research, compared with Beta or Delta variants, VoC is three times more likely to cause reinfection. The paper is available on the medical preprint server and has not been peer-reviewed.

As the number of active cases is less than 100,000, India has reported 9,216 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours. At the same time, the cumulative vaccination coverage rate has exceeded the 1.25 billion mark, and 7.367 million doses were vaccinated on Friday.

News Source : Hindustan Times