However, the WHO's director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said last week that omicron "offers plausible hope for stabilization and normalization." Anthony Fauci have said eradicating Covid is unlikely. The WHO and White House chief medical advisor Dr. However, omicron is spreading so quickly that it is putting strain on already overburdened hospitals. and South Africa among others - have found that omicron generally does not make people as sick as the previous delta variant. Studies from around the world - including the U.S., the U.K. Meanwhile, Moderna has launched a clinical trial of an omicron-specific booster dose in adults over the age of 18. The company expects to have the shot ready by March. Pfizer is conducting a clinical trial of an omicron vaccine in people aged 18 to 55. The CEOs of Pfizer and Moderna are also worried that a new variant could emerge as immunity from vaccines wanes off over time. "The big question is whether or not future variants will be more or less severe." "The next variant of concern will be more fit, and what we mean by that is it will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating," Van Kerkhove said. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, said last week that the next variant will be more transmissible, but it's an open question whether it will be more severe. However, WHO officials have warned that new variants will almost certainly emerge as omicron spreads at an unprecedented rate around the world. The World Health Organization hasn't yet labeled BA.2 a separate variant of concern from omicron. In the U.S., 63% of the total population are vaccinated, and about 41% of the vaccinated have received a booster, according to the CDC. In Denmark, more than 80% of the population are fully vaccinated and more than 60% have received a booster dose. "If you are in a community or living in a country where you have a low vaccination rate, then you will have for sure more admissions to hospital and more severe cases and then more going to ICU," Lillebaek said. Troels Lillebaek, chairman of Denmark's Covid variant surveillance committee, said the health-care system in his country might be able to handle the hospitalizations while nations with lower vaccination rates could face a rougher road ahead. The Scandinavian nation reported 80 new hospitalizations on Monday for a total of more than 1,000 people currently admitted with Covid.ĭenmark is reporting an average of roughly 19 Covid deaths per day, which is on the rise but well below its pandemic high of about 36 daily deaths recorded last winter, according to the Hopkins data. "Currently there is no evidence that the BA.2 lineage is more severe than the BA.1 lineage," CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said.ĭenmark, a country of 5.8 million people, is reporting an average of about 46,000 new cases per day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, up 18% over the past week and nearly double the level of two weeks ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a statement Friday, said BA.2 is currently circulating at a very low level in the U.S. have detected BA.2, with a total of 194 confirmed cases nationwide so far, according to a global database of Covid variants. "The combination of high incidence of a relative innocuous subvariant has raised optimism," the scientists wrote, while noting the importance of keeping a close eye on BA.2. It is reassuring that Covid BA.2 infections are generally milder than delta variant infections, the scientists said, and that vaccines help protect against severe illness and hospitalizations. The study also noted that the higher susceptibility to infection and greater transmissibility of BA.2 will likely result in more extensive spread of the virus among unvaccinated kids in schools and day care. "This indicates that after a breakthrough infection, vaccination protects against further transmission, and more so for BA.2 than BA.1," the scientists found. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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