Existing vaccines will be effective against Omicron too, says WHO expert
Existing vaccines will still protect people who contract the Omicron variant from severe Covid-19 cases, according to a top World Health Organization (WHO) official.
"We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalisation, and there's no reason to expect that it wouldn't be so for Omicron,” Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO's emergencies director, told AFP news agency.
His observation comes at a time when the first lab tests of the heavily mutated new variant in South Africa suggest it can partially evade the Pfizer vaccine.
Researchers say there was a "very large drop" in how well the vaccine's antibodies neutralised the new strain.
But Ryan said there was no sign Omicron would be better at evading vaccines than other variants.
He also said that initial data suggested that the COVID-19 symptoms in the case of Omicron were less severe than the Delta and other strains.
Scientists believe previous infection, followed by vaccination or a booster, is likely to increase the neutralisation level and will probably protect people against severe disease.
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