According to the health expert, elderly people should practice caution owing to the possibility of the infection spreading.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist, warned on Thursday that the XBB subvariant of Omicron, a COVID-19 virus variant, may cause "another wave of infections" in some nations.
She explained that there is currently no data from any nation that suggests that these new variants are clinically more severe when speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) here.
"There are over 300 subvariants of Omicron. I think the one that is concerning right now is XBB, which is a recombinant virus. We had seen some recombinant viruses earlier. It is very immune-evasive, which means it can overcome the antibodies. So slightly that we may see another wave of infections in some countries because of XBB," she stated.
The more contagious and immune-evasive derivatives of BA.5 and BA.1, according to Swaminathan, are also being monitored.
According to her, the virus will become more contagious as it develops.
She added, "As of now, there is no data from any country to suggest these new subvariants are more clinically severe."
Dr Swaminathan suggested the necessary actions, stating that the most important ones are monitoring and tracking.
"We need to continue to monitor and track. We have seen that testing has gone down across countries, the genomic surveillance has also gone down over the last few months. We need to maintain at least a strategic sampling of genomic surveillance so that we can keep tracking the variants as we have been doing and studying," she added.
She claims that the WHO Director-General has stated that COVID-19 is still a public health emergency of concern on a global scale.
She continued by saying that 8,000 to 9,000 fatalities linked to the virus are reported each week globally.
"So we have not said that the pandemic is over, which means that all precautions and tools continued to be used. Good thing is that we have now many tools and the most important thing is vaccines," added Dr Swaminathan.
"Our objectives in terms of vaccination coverage are 100 per cent of those over the age of 60 and 100 per cent of frontline and healthcare professionals. Then, 70 per cent of the country is our target, but subgroups are more crucial because they are most likely to experience morbidity and mortality, "She spoke.
According to her, several elderly people died when Omicron spread because they had not received all of the recommended vaccinations.
"The full vaccination schedule is three doses. The primary two doses plus booster in the next four to six months. But in many countries, including India, the uptake of the booster is low. So we encourage people to take the third dose," she added.
She suggested keeping using masks for infection prevention.
Vaccines continue to shield us from serious illness and hospitalisation, but the danger of developing chronic COVID disorders appears to rise with each infection. Thus, it is not innocuous. By stating that it is acceptable to contract the infection, we shouldn't be too careless.
"Many people just think that it is just like the flu or any other respiratory infection, but more and more data is coming out on how COVID is affecting all organ systems and not just the respiratory route. It also affects the cardiovascular system and the inflammatory environment. So we have seen the risk of diabetes doubling, we have seen the risk of heart attacks...and other neurocognitive problems," she said.
Another prominent health specialist talked about the new Omicron variant:
In light of the discovery of sub-variants of the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus disease, a prominent health specialist has urged caution.
Former AIIMS, Delhi director Randeep Guleria stated that "new variants tend to mutate." However, he claimed in a statement to the news agency ANI that "the situation is different now."
“Earlier there was no vaccination, but people are vaccinated now and have developed immunity against the virus,” he stated.
In light of the discovery of sub-variants of the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus disease, a prominent health specialist has urged caution.
In addition to the recommendation for masks, Guleria recommended high-risk groups and elderly people stay inside owing to the possibility of the infection spreading. “If you're going out and especially in crowded places then you must wear a mask. High-risk groups, elderly people should avoid going out because there are high chances of spreading infection,” he advised.
The likelihood of hospitalisation and ICU admissions is low, says the health expert.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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