'Don't lower guard' warn health experts adding India less vulnerable to Omicron

The new highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 will not affect India as badly as Delta did early this year, yet the country cannot be complacent but must be careful and alert, as per top virologist Dr Shahid Jameel. Now, the National COVID-19 Supermodel Committee Head, M Vidyasagar has also reiterated the same fact.

M Vidyasagar, professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad said that India looks less vulnerable because of the Omicron variant and that the UK model is irrelevant to India. The United Kingdom is witnessing a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.

While speaking to a media, M Vidyasagar said that the UK has low seropositivity and high vaccine penetration. India however has both, which makes it less vulnerable. Seropositivity means having or being a positive serum reaction especially in a test for the presence of an antibody. Low seropositivity means less infection gained through natural infection.

Another reason he gives why India should not be worried like the United Kingdom is the fact that the UK uses mostly mRNA vaccines that seem to offer protection only for a short duration. The mRNA vaccines direct cells to produce copies of a protein on the outside of the coronavirus known as the 'spike protein'. India is yet to use these vaccines.

Meanwhile, looking at the surge in Omicron cases, health experts and doctors on Friday advised people to avoid all gatherings and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour. They warned that if people do not become cautious then the pandemic situation may worsen given the highly transmissible nature of this variant.

Health experts and doctors treating COVID-19 patients in Delhi say a 'sense of complacency' has again crept in among a large section of citizens. The rise in cases of Omicron variant comes ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations where we see massive gatherings of people in public and get-togethers at home.