It is too early to talk about the mortality rate from the omicron strain of coronavirus detected in South Africa. This is how the Chief Researcher of the Gamaleya Research Center Anatoly Altshtein assessed the statement of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the absence of deaths from the new variant of COVID-19, his words leads News.ru.
The Russian virologist is sure that the WHO’s opinion cannot yet be called final, since the conclusions were made on the basis of information about the infection of only a few hundred people.
“South African experts suspect that there is supposedly a new epidemic with this virus, but there is no clear evidence of this. There really began an upturn in November, there are deaths, but there is no evidence that the omicron is to blame, “Altstein said.
Experts cannot yet assess the capabilities of the new strain of coronavirus, since it is not very common.
Earlier, the WHO said that the organization has no information on deaths associated with infection with the omicron-strain of coronavirus. Nonetheless, manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines must be prepared to “update” the formulation of drugs to protect against the new mutation.
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