Next Kovid variant will be more dangerous than Omicron, WHO warns
The new Omicron variant of the corona virus is less dangerous than the previous delta variant. Now scientists have expressed concern about the next strain of COVID. Officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that the next variant of the corona virus may be more infectious than Omicron, but what scientists really need to tell is whether the upcoming variant will be fatal or not.
Maria van Kerkhove, technical head of COVID-19 at WHO, said in a live discussion on social media channels, ‘The health body has registered about 20 million cases last week. The weekly cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant set a new global record. Although it is not as dangerous as all the previous variants, as soon as they arrived, the number of patients in the hospitals started increasing.
Van Kerkhove said, ‘The next variant of concern will be more powerful. This means that it will have a higher transmission rate and it will surpass the existing variants that are spreading all over the world. A big question is also whether the variants coming in the future will be more lethal or not. Experts have warned those who believe in such theories that the virus will mutate in mild strains over time and people will get less sick than previous variants.
We can definitely expect the next variant to be lighter. But in reality there is no guarantee that this will happen. That’s why people need to strictly follow the COVID protocol. In addition, the next mutated variant of COVID may be more adept at evading vaccine protection. It can affect the immunity created by the vaccine.
Pfizer and BioEndtech on Tuesday began testing a COVID vaccine that primarily targets the Omicron variant, as scientists were concerned that existing vaccine shots were not effective against infections and mild illness caused by the new variant. A study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week found that 14 days after a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine, the risk of hospitalization was reduced by 90 percent.
WHO officials said that at present Omicron is on peak in many countries of the world and is emerging in many countries. Van Kerkhon urged people that you do not need to wear a mask forever. You don’t even need to maintain physical distance forever. But given the current situation, we have to do this now.
Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO’s director of emergency programs, said the virus would continue to evolve before a pattern set in. It can become a seasonal disease or it can become a threat to the people of the weaker section. He said that the biggest problem is that nothing can be said with certainty about COVID.
