Is there a more poisonous "brother and sister" in Omicron? Expert: It's all speculation that the vaccine is still effective

Text/ Wang Weining

Editor / Wang Xiao

Photo/pixabay

On February 11, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the latest information on the new coronavirus variant, Olmi kerong, on the official microblog. A WHO spokesperson stressed that the Omikejong mutation will not be the last new coronavirus variant, and the subsequent variants may have stronger transmissibility.

"These are all speculations." Jin Dongyan, a virology expert at the University of Hong Kong, believes that the reason why the WHO believes that the subsequent variants will be more transmissible is because only stronger can replace the Omilon variant. There are many factors that lead to the emergence of new variants, the most basic of which is that the virus will have a large number of replications in special populations or animals with weak immunity, such as immunodeficient patients or hamsters.

The severe illness rate of the Omikejong variant has decreased compared to the previous "siblings", with a fatality rate of 0.2%. On February 8, 2022, the WHO released a death report on the Omiljunn variant, showing that since the discovery of the Omiljunn variant at the end of November 2021, 130 million people worldwide have been confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus, and there have been 500,000 deaths of the new crown.

Since 9 November 2021, South Africa has detected a strain of the new coronavirus B.1.1.529 from a case sample for the first time, and this variant has grown rapidly in South Africa in a short period of time. On 26 November 2021, the WHO defined it as the fifth "variant of concern" (VOC), named the Greek letter Omicron variant.

To date, several countries have monitored the import of this variant. Yu Zujiang, head of the medical treatment team of the Fifth People's Hospital of Anyang City, Henan Province, said in an interview with CCTV that the characteristics of the clinical manifestations of the Aomi Kerong strain are not special. Infected people who are "sneaked" by Omicron will have symptoms such as dry cough, sore throat, dry mouth and changes in taste.

According to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 map, as of February 11, 400 million people worldwide have been confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus, and 5.8 million new crown deaths have been confirmed.

"In the face of the epidemic, we should still take preventive measures, and mixed vaccination can strengthen the effectiveness of epidemic prevention." Jin Dongyan said.

While current COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective in reducing the risk of severe illness and death caused by the virus, they have not completely eliminated the risk of transmission of all variants of the new coronavirus. But the WHO is still calling for seasonal spread of the new crown virus, and vaccination is still a powerful means of improving immunity.

At a video conference of the WHO's Emergency Committee on 13 January, the committee recognized that after nearly two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult for communities to continue to accept adherence to public health and social measures, and that the presentation of the situation could be overly optimistic.

To find the best vaccination strategies to reduce infection, morbidity and mortality, the Committee stressed the importance of coordinating heterologous vaccine combination studies.

A coordinated global strategy is essential to protect high-risk populations around the world. Because travel restrictions have not stopped the international spread of the Omikejong variant, the WHO is also calling on countries to lift or ease travel restrictions, reduce the economic and social pressures caused by travel restrictions, and try to reassess the global COVID-19 situation.