Play about the new omikron variant: – We should not worry
The Omikron variant BA.2 is spreading rapidly and has so far been detected in 49 countries. For Denmark’s part, BA.2 has passed the original omicron variant (BA.1) as the dominant corona variant in the country. It writes CNN.
According to the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) weekly report BA.2 accounted for six per cent of the analyzed cases of infection in Norway in week 4. This corresponds to a slight increase.
In Oslo, the variant accounted for 16 percent of the analyzed cases. There is also a third Omikron variant (BA.3), but it has only been detected in one case in Norway.
How worried should we be about the new omicron variant?
– We should not worry
CNN has spoken with the emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, Dr. Leana Wen, about the omicron variant BA.2, what danger it poses and whether the vaccines protect against it.
When asked about the BA.2 variant, Wen answers:
– We should pay attention and monitor new information when it comes out, but we should not worry. There is no evidence that this variant leads to more serious disease than the original omicron variant, which is associated with less serious disease and earlier variants such as delta.
Expect the vaccine to work
According to Wen, the vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna are testing vaccines against the omicron variant. Since BA.2 is a sub-variant of omicron, it is expected that the vaccines will be effective against both variants.
– Preliminary studies from the UK show that people who have been vaccinated and have received a booster dose are just as well protected against BA.2 as against the original omicron variant. This is important because it means that those vaccinated and recipients of booster doses are unlikely to become seriously ill from the new variant, Wen says.