The fifth wave of coronavirus will begin in Russia in late January or early February. This assumption was voiced by the virologist of the Gamaleya Center, Doctor of Medicine Anatoly Altshtein. In a conversation with Lenta.ru, the scientist shared his guesses about what the new wave will be like. In his opinion, high incidence rates should be expected. In addition, he said that in order to fight the infection, it is necessary to modernize vaccines.
The global release of the omicron will mark the arrival of the fifth wave of coronavirus. In some countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, Altstein designated, it has already begun. According to him, the omicron wave should be expected in Russia soon.
The fifth wave is near
Omicron is already in Russia, there is no doubt about this, the virologist emphasized, but it has not yet spread enough to talk about the fifth wave, Altstein said. “Against the background of the delta, it has not yet cut through. In other countries, it showed a high incidence against the background of the delta. This applies to European countries, the United States. In general, countries with good statistics have shown a rise in the omicron. Even without a special study, it is clear that this is not a delta, but an omicron, because the incidence is sharply increasing, ”explained Altstein.
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In Russia, this has not yet been observed, the virologist specified. However, the arrival of the omicron wave should be expected in the near future. “There is an outbreak around the world that has not yet reached us. I think that in late January – early February we will have all this. It all depends on how many omicrons we have now, ”the scientist added.
To believe that this will be a disaster is not worth it, the virologist reassured. This variant of the coronavirus is characterized by a lower mortality rate, he noted. However, the omicron will put a heavy strain on the medical field, and it is worth preparing for this, warned Altstein.
The issue of modernization is ripe
Judging by the figures published by other countries, where the fifth wave is already underway, Russia will face a high jump in morbidity. It is difficult to say whether the omicron wave will be as protracted as the delta, added the doctor of medical sciences, but it will be intense in terms of the number of infections. In this regard, the issue of creating vaccines that can contain omicron is brewing.
From the way the incidence has exploded around the world, it is clear that vaccines that were effective against alpha and significantly effective against delta do not inhibit omicron. They continue to contain the severe course of the disease and reduce the number of deaths, but a very important task of modernizing the vaccine is brewing.
Anatoly AltsteinVirologist at the Gamaleya Center, Doctor of Medicine
Earlier, the French Ministry of Health reported 208 thousand new COVID-19 infections per day. Minister in charge Olivier Veran called the new morbidity data “dizzy.” The daily infection rates declined steadily over several weeks, in part due to the nature of the delta strain, which is less infectious than the omicron strain. The minister called the record rapid spread of the new COVID-19 variation a “tidal wave.”
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