In 6-8 weeks Omicron will have infected more than half of Europe’s population

LAST UPDATE: 15.08

More than half of Europeans are expected to become infected with the Omicron mutation of the coronavirus within the next six to eight weeks, according to a leading official of the World Health Organization for the Old Continent.

Europe saw more than 7 million new Covid-19 infections in the first week of 2022, more than double what it was two weeks ago, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge told a news conference.

“At these levels, the Institute for Health Statistics and Forecasting predicts that more than 50% of the continent’s population will be infected with Omicron over the next 6-8 weeks,” Kluge was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Research is needed on the adequacy of existing vaccines against Omicron

The WHO also said that more research was needed to determine whether existing coronavirus vaccines provide adequate protection against the highly contagious Omicron variant, although vaccine manufacturers are developing next-generation formulations.

The Agency’s latest technical report aims to answer some of the most crucial questions about the highly mutated Omicron variant, which first appeared in November, as to its gravity, transmissibility and ability to evade vaccination. cover.

In addition, it sets priorities for its Member States.

However, this UN agency does not have an immediate answer to one of the key questions about whether a vaccine specifically for the Omicron variant is now required.

“Further research is needed to better understand the possibility of Omicron’s immune escape from vaccines and immunity through natural disease and Omicron’s response to vaccines,” it said.

A WHO official said earlier that the issue required “global coordination” and that it was not up to the vaccine companies to decide.

Some companies are already developing next-generation vaccines targeting the highly transmitted variant first found in South Africa and Hong Kong.

Yesterday, Monday, Pfizer CEO Albert Burla said a vaccine targeting Covid’s Omicron variant would be ready in March and the company had already begun producing the installments.

Pfizer’s competitor, Moderna, is also working on a candidate vaccine to cover the Omicron variant, but it is unlikely to be available in the next two months.

A WHO technical working group has been studying the composition of the vaccine in recent weeks and is expected to make more announcements later today, a spokesman for the agency said.

Additional data on the effectiveness of vaccines against Omicron and the need for vaccines made specifically for this variant will be available in the coming weeks, the WHO said in a statement.

The Agency called on countries and partners to study the effectiveness of vaccines and their effect.

According to the WHO, the first data show that homologous and heterologous vaccination (that is, the mixing of different vaccines) with a booster dose increases the effectiveness of the vaccine against Omicron and the symptomatic disease compared to the Delta variant, but a study has show reduced efficacy of booster doses against Omicron’s symptomatic disease.

An analysis by the UK Health and Safety Service has shown that booster doses of the vaccine provide high levels of protection in the elderly against severe Omicron disease, but the duration of protection against mild symptomatic infection is shorter and reduced to about 30% after about three months.