Data from two new studies – from Scotland and South Africa – reveal that the hospitalization rate caused by Omicron could be between 66 and 80 percent lower than in Delta: but the speed with which the variant expands could “undo »Quickly this advantage, and the data could only reflect the fact that many of the infected are vaccinated (and that vaccines work)
Two new studies produced in South Africa and Scotland suggest that those infected with the Omicron variant of the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus are significantly less likely to end up in hospital than those infected with the Delta variant. The data was revealed by the Wall Street Journal, and taken up by international agencies.
The data – which speak of hospitalization rates lower than 66 per cent (according to the Scottish study) and 70-80% (according to the South African one) – however also explain that the very rapid spread of the Omicron variant, and its significantly higher than infecting people vaccinated or who were cured of Covid, in fact greatly reduces the benefit for health systems given by the lower hospitalization rate: and this is because Omicron simply infects many more people.
Not only that: the lower risk of hospitalization could derive precisely from the fact that Omicron also infects vaccinated people – who, however, thanks to the protection of vaccines, do not end up in hospital.
In other words: Omicron could also have the same ability as Delta to cause severe forms of Covid, but from a statistical point of view this is “hidden” by the fact that many infected are vaccinated, and given that vaccines work (ie protect against the form serious Covid), the “optical illusion” of a less “bad” variant is generated.
Article being updated …
December 22, 2021 (change December 22, 2021 | 18:50)
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