Omicron, is truly virulent, is of greater concern, and it infects people who were infected earlier too. According to South African Scientists individuals who have been infected with earlier Covid types do not appear to be immune to Omicron, however immunisation can still protect them from serious sickness, according to a leading scientist says.
“We suspect that prior infection does not protect against Omicron,” stated Anne von Gottberg of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
Omicron : South Africa encounters rise in COVID reinfections
She added doctors were noticing “an increase for Omicron reinfections” in early studies into the newly-emerged variety.
In a news conference with the World Health Organization’s Africa region, she said that this tendency was also visible in models that projected those cases versus the general population.
“We believe the number of cases will increase exponentially in all provinces of the country,” she said.
“We believe that vaccines will still however protect against severe disease,” she added.
“Vaccines have always held out to protect against serious disease, hospitalisations and death.”
The new variant, first reported to the WHO a week earlier, has popped up across continents.
Given that Omicron had already been reported in over two dozen countries and its origins remained unknown, WHO experts called for a reassessment on travel bans against southern Africa.
“The variation was discovered in South Africa and Botswana. We don’t know what caused this, and we don’t know where it came from “Ambrose Talisuna, a specialist, remarked “It is unjust to punish folks who are simply detecting or reporting.”
South Africa reported about 300 cases per day in mid-November. The government reported 8,561 new cases on Wednesday, up from 4,373 the day before and 2,273 the day before.
