First Scientific Data About Omicron Variant Has Arrived

As it is known, scientists in South Africa announced that a new COVID-19 variant was discovered, which led to an increase in cases in the country. by the World Health Organization (WHO)OmicronThis variant, which is called ‘, is known as ‘ because it has too many mutations.worryingwas described as ‘. After these statements of WHO, many countries turned to new travel restrictions; however, despite the restrictions, the variant started to spread rapidly around the world.

Until now, there was no detailed scientific data about Omicron. Experts stated that the contagiousness of the variant was predicted to be high and its symptoms to be mild. Now is South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NICD) published a new study on Omicron by scientific data It was shared with the whole world.

3 times more likely to reinfect

The study, published on Thursday, conducted a statistical analysis of approximately 2.8 million positive coronavirus cases. As a result of the examinations, experts concluded that the Omicron variant was obtained from previous infections. ability to evade immunity and that the rate of reinfection differs from Beta and Delta variants. at least 3 times more turned out to be possible.

The South African Center for Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis, working with the NICD within the scope of the research, also stated that the findings are related to the ability of the Omicron variant to evade immunity. first scientific data He stated that he did. In addition, NICD scientist Anne Von Gottberg said in her statements, “With our study, we have seen that the immunity that emerged with previous infections does not protect against the variant.” he stated.

NICD, variant more youth He also stated in the study he published that it may have milder symptoms compared to previous variants. It was also among the statements that there was a significant increase in South Africa due to the variant and that this increase is expected to continue rapidly.

Finally, scientists at NICD stated that they could not reach sufficient evidence about whether COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the new variant due to lack of data. However, one of the authors of the study, Juliet Pulliam, said that despite the lack of data, vaccines serious illness and death He said it could be the most effective way to counter it. BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin also stated in his recent statements that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could ‘probably’ be effective against the variant and made some comforting statements.