Will Everyone Fall Prey To Omicron ? WHO Official Answers

Geneva: Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead on Covid-19, said that although Omicron is less severe as compared to the Delta variant, it is still a dangerous virus and the threat which it poses must not be downplayed.

She was questioned as to why people are ending up in the hospital and dying from the Omicron variant if it is not that life-threatening, to which the WHO official replied by saying that people who are infected with Omicron have the full spectrum of disease, everything from asymptomatic infection all the way through severe disease and death.

"What we are learning is that people with underlying conditions, people with advanced age, people who are unvaccinated can have a severe form of Covid-19 following infection from Omicron," the WHO's technical lead on Covid-19 added.

She was also asked whether everyone could end up getting infected with Omicron eventually. Kerkhove responded by saying that Omicron is overtaking the delta variant as far as the circulation is concerned and also added that Omicron transmits between people very efficiently.

However, the WHO official clarified her remarks, which she addressed in a programme on 23 January, by saying that it does not necessarily mean that everybody will eventually get infected with Omicron.

"It is protestive against severe disease and death, but it also does prevent some infections and some onward transmission," the top health body's Covid-19 technical lead said while stressing on vaccination against Covid-19.

Earlier, Doctor Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the President of the United States, had said that the US is approaching the "threshold" of transitioning to living with the coronavirus as a manageable disease.

The top immunologist also added that the elimination of Covid-19 was unrealistic. He further went on to say that "Omicron, with its extraordinary, unprecedented degree of efficiency of transmissibility, will ultimately find just about everybody."

Furthermore, he remarked that the eradication of this virus is highly unlikely, given its contagiousness, its propensity to mutate into new variants and the large pool of unvaccinated people.

Also read: Another New Covid Variant? Omicron Sub-Lineage BA.2 Under Investigation

Also watch: