© BELGIAN
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The omikron variant of the coronavirus may be less mild than first thought. That’s according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
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Source: BELGIAN
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Virologist Marc Van Ranst (KU Leuven) points out that the study does not provide any real new conclusions, it compares several previous studies. In addition, it is important to note that it is very difficult to estimate how sick someone will get from omikron, because there is already a high level of vaccination coverage and immunity in populations.
Two studies found that omikron was 75 percent more likely to cause hospitalization in unvaccinated individuals who had no history of infection, compared to the delta variant. This would make the variant just as sickening as the original Wuhan variant.
“It will probably actually come down to that, although it is not obvious to investigate that. It is certain that omikron is not an ordinary cold virus,” says Van Ranst. “So we must continue to be careful and try not to get or pass on the virus.”
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