“Vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant”: Ministry of Health

The Colombian Ministry of Health confirmed this Friday that vaccines against covid-19 have shown effectiveness against the new Omicron variant, which has become one of the major concerns of epidemiologists and citizens in the country and the world.

This was announced by the director of Epidemiology and Demography of the Health portfolio, Julián Fernández, within the framework of the Unified Command Post (PMU) that was held in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, in which he referred to the fight against this new strain in the national territory with a booster dose.

“It is very important to intensify the work. The difference of what happens in December will be the vaccination of people at risk and the reinforcements with third doses“Said the official, who stressed that the biologicals will continue to be effective against this new strain.

In turn, the epidemiologist pointed out that a lot of information is still missing in relation to this new variant, however, studies have been able to establish that Ómicron is a strain with greater transmissibility, which represents that it is two or up to four times more contagious than Delta, the predominant variant in Colombia, according to the National Institute of Health (INS).

In this sense, he indicated that this information is essential because there is a direct correlation between the speed of infections and the increase in the severity of cases and deaths, for this reason he pointed out that it is a worrying data, because there are several regions in the country where there is a population at risk because they are not vaccinated.

“It is not known if it is more, equal or less severe. But we can’t relax because of that. More infections represent more deaths, especially in unvaccinated populations”, Explained Fernández, however, he made a special call to advance in the immunization of citizens to avoid the effects of this new variant.

He also recalled that the reinforcements against covid-19 are showing greater effectiveness when they are heterologous, that is, when a different biological is applied to the one used to complete the vaccination scheme, which is why he called on the mayors, governors and health personnel of the country to encourage the population over 50 to apply the booster dose.

Finally, he called for strengthening epidemiological surveillance against the threat of new variants, recognizing that vaccination is essential to mitigate the complications derived from covid-19, but surveillance is essential to detect these new threats.

“In a scenario of more transmission, it is essential to arrive with this shield. Coverage for children and young people is key to returning to school and reducing contagion. But reinforcements can lead us to save lives, with or without Omicron”, Concluded the epidemiologist Fernández.

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