The Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues to remain in the spotlight of health authorities and governments around the world.
The question everyone asks is: are the vaccines already available really effective to contain it?
At the moment, the most popular hypothesis is that the current vaccines are still effective (although Moderna has already announced that it is working on a new "strengthened" vaccine ). But to be sure of this, further data and further studies are awaited.
As confirmed by the infectious disease specialist Massimo Galli: “Too much has been said about Omicron and also in a contradictory way. On the other hand, the data we have for now do not say much and do not say with certainty that the vaccines have holes ”, he explained to the microphones of the Rai Agorà broadcast. "Although with all the mutations it has it doesn't put us in a tranquil position, what appears to be is that vaccines continue to provide more than decent protection for infection and more than good coverage for severe disease."
For Galli, if there is a variant "with important diffusion capacities, even greater than the Delta, it is clear that you must pay attention to it". Therefore, "we must not bandage our heads but neither should we ignore the problem. As long as we have no other information we must be cautious, the certain thing is that the need for a third dose is further corroborated by the appearance of this variant".
“We have to wait a while for the feared possible reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines. Preliminary data from Israel here also comfort us, saying that with three doses the response is good, therefore necessity has made it from the institutional point of view to keep the attention and tracking capacity very high, which is already in difficulty ", he said. instead the virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco.
And then Matteo Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases department of San Martino di Genova: "It seems to me that we have substantially reduced a problem that until a few days ago seemed the end of the world. There was an information short circuit, perhaps it was more problematic for politics and the economy than for doctors ".
"The South Africans reported having isolated this variant - adds Bassetti - but they told us that the symptoms of the patients they had observed were very mild".
Again: “The virus is mutating and it does so in a country where there are few vaccinated people. This means that you have to vaccinate and it also means that, instead of always having a variant that in addition to being more contagious is also faster in clinical evolution, this time it seems not to be the case. The problem exists and the solution is vaccination, which cannot be just that in rich countries ".
Meanwhile, Dutch health authorities announced that the new Omicron variant was present in the country a week earlier than previously believed. The newspaper De Telegraaf wrote this, specifying that checks are underway to see how far it has spread. In particular, the variant was detected in two test samples that had already been taken on November 19 and 23, therefore before the arrival of the flight from South Africa where many positive passengers were found at Covid-19, Omicron variant.
(Unioneonline / lf)