Will the Omicron sub-variant be a game changer for the umpteenth time?
If the experts have been cautious in recent days, specifying that there is a lack of data to determine the level of severity and contagiousness of this mutation of the coronavirus, all are carefully scrutinizing the Danish figures for the epidemic where the sub-variant is now the majority. .
Read alsoCovid-19: what you need to know about BA.2, a sub-variant of Omicron
"
What the Danes tell us is that it's exactly the same (variant than Omicron, editor's note), with one difference that we need to explore, I have no conclusions to make at this stage , which is that we could potentially recontaminate ourselves with BA.2 even when we would have been contaminated with the Omicron variant
, ”explained on the LCI set this Tuesday, January 25, Olivier Véran. This “
could give a competitive advantage to the BA.2 which could suddenly circulate a little more widely
”, declared the Minister of Health.
This new variant is now the majority in Denmark, and present all over the world.
"
In the sequencing studies we did on 10,000 real-life sequencings last week, it was sixty cases, but the Omicron experience showed us that 60 cases could be thousands of cases a few days or weeks later.
“, clarified Olivier Véran.
"
This BA.2 variant has the color, the smell, the taste of Omicron but it is not exactly Omicron
"
,
developed the Minister of Health, referring to a "
sub-lineage
" of Omicron
,
with a mutation “
on the protein which is the key to entering the human cell
”
.
Read alsoOmicron: “Fear, reason and freedom”
If this new mutation could therefore lead to a more contagious disease, it has not yet shown signs pointing in the direction of a greater severity.
“
The very preliminary observations in India and Denmark suggest that there is no big difference in severity compared to BA.1 (Omicron editor's note).
These data should solidify (one way or the other) in the weeks to come
, ”reassured virologist Tom Peacock of Imperial College London a few days ago on Twitter.
