Omicron variant: measures to limit contagion in Italy and in the world

It has few symptoms and its condition does not cause concern, but it is the first in Italy on which it has been identified the Omicron variant of Covid 19. He returned two weeks ago from a business trip to Mozambique. He landed in Rome, lives in Campania and was subjected to a swab in Milan, the city where he moved after returning. Health authorities are trying to trace his contacts. The man was vaccinated with two doses. All the family members he infected, five including the two children whose classes are in isolation, have mild symptoms and are in isolation like him who was supposed to leave, but was stopped after the positive swab.

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the Ministry of Health have sent a recommendation to the regions: “strengthen and monitor the tracking and sequencing activities in the case of travelers from countries with diffusion of the Omicron variant and their contacts, or in the case of outbreaks characterized from rapid and abnormal increase in cases“. The request is to promptly enforce quarantine and isolation. Those arriving from Africa also through other ports of call must be quickly identified. Flights from eight southern African countries are already suspended. The same choice was made by many Western countries. Israel closed the borders for two weeks.

The fact that the new variant comes from Africa worries about the lack of data and the low number of vaccinations. In the continent, only one out of 7 cases of Covid is identified in Africa according to WHO estimates limited presence of tampons. The fact that few are vaccinated is once again the basis of the problem. In the Western world third doses are being made, in Africa only 15 out of 54 countries have vaccinated at least 10% of the population by September. Not enough vaccine doses have arrived from the Covax program, but there is also considerable skepticism.

According to the “photograph” made by the Infant Jesus hospital in Rome, this variant has more mutations than the Delta and are concentrated in an area of ​​interaction with human cells. The indication is always the same, go ahead with the vaccination campaign and track the positives. Italy had 90 deaths yesterday, as had not happened since June, and over 12 thousand positives. In recent weeks there has been a slight increase in cases among children aged 6 to 11, the segment of the population that is not vaccinated, but for which the green light could come next week. Professor Franco Locatelli explained to the Corriere della Sera that the vaccine remains fundamental together with the use of the mask because we know that the variant spreads rapidly, “but we do not know if it is capable of causing serious illness or if it can reduce the effectiveness of vaccines”.

Other stories of Vanity Fair that may interest you:

– 2G, Green Pass and others: the rules for vaccinated and non vaccinated in Europe

– Vaccines: the green light of the EMA for children aged 5 and over and the new obligations