There is a “high to very high” risk that the new variant of Covid-19, dubbed Ômicron by the World Health Organization on Friday, will spread across Europe, the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. fair.
“There is considerable uncertainty regarding transmissibility, vaccine efficacy, risk of reinfections and other properties of the Ômicron variant. However, given its immunological escape potential and potentially increased transmissibility advantage compared to Delta, we assessed the likelihood of further introduction and community spread in the EU/EEA as HIGH. In a situation where the Delta variant is re-emerging in the EU / EEA, the impact of the introduction and possible spread of Ômicron could be VERY HIGH. In conclusion, the overall risk level for the EU/EEA associated with the SARS-CoV-2 Ômicron variant is rated as HIGH to VERY HIGH,” said the ECDC.
WHO announced on Friday that it has designated Ômicron, which has been identified as a strain of coronavirus B.1.1.529, as a strain of concern.
In addition to South Africa, the newly identified variant was detected in Botswana, Hong Kong and Belgium.
It appears to be spreading rapidly in parts of South Africa and scientists are concerned that its exceptionally high number of mutations could make it more transmissible and result in immune evasion.
The WHO Technical Advisory Group on the Evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus (TAG-VE), an independent group of experts, met on Friday to discuss the variant, a WHO statement said.
The advisers recommended that WHO designate the variant as “worrying”, referring to the large number of mutations in the variant, the possibility of an increased risk of reinfection, and other evidence.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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