WHO Omicron COVID-19 Strain Update

A UN health agency panel said on Thursday that early laboratory data on the efficiency of current vaccinations against the Omicron COVID-19 strain is important, but it’s still uncertain how efficient they’ll be in treating critically unwell patients.The move comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that available vaccines protect people against the worst types of coronavirus disease for six months or longer, with a slight, modest drop after that, in persons over 65 or with underlying medical disorders.
She told journalists at a scheduled conference today (December 9) that early “signals” were coming from neutralising research “about what the direction might be…but we obviously need more than what has come out at this moment,” she said.As Omicron spreads, the WHO official stressed that the unvaccinated, who account for 80 to 90% of individuals who have become very ill as a result of the coronavirus, are the ones most at risk.If countries choose to keep their COVID-19 vaccines rather than share them via the WHO-backed COVAX equitable distribution mechanism, the chance of the pandemic not being snuffed out will remain.