The rapid spread of the Omicron variant will cause "a large number of hospitalizations" of Covid-19 patients, even if it turned out to be slightly less dangerous than its predecessor, the European branch of the Organization warned on Tuesday. world health.
"A rapid rise in Omicron, like the one we are seeing in several countries, even if combined with a slightly less severe illness, will still lead to a large number of hospitalizations, especially among the unvaccinated," said to AFP Catherine Smallwood, one of the main officials of WHO Europe.
Too early to estimate how dangerous Omicron is
Faced with uncertainties over the new variant first detected at the end of November in South Africa, countries are hesitating between strong restrictions and a more flexible strategy due to signs of less seriousness from Omicron.
"It is too early to say whether the Omicron wave will be more or less severe than that of Delta", underlined Catherine Smallwood, "even if the preliminary data in the populations affected first in Europe (England, Scotland, Denmark) show that Omicron may have a lower risk of hospitalization compared to Delta ”.
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The emergency response specialist called for taking these preliminary data "with caution" because for the time being the cases observed mainly concern "young and healthy populations in countries with high vaccination rates".
"We have not yet seen the impact that Omicron will have on the most vulnerable groups: the elderly who have not yet received a full vaccination," says the expert.
Preliminary data from the UK and South Africa
Much more contagious, but undoubtedly less virulent. A month after its identification in South Africa, scientists are starting to better understand the Omicron variant, without being able to say yet how much it will change the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Early studies from South Africa, Scotland and England last week show that Omicron appears to cause fewer hospitalizations than Delta. According to these data, still very incomplete and to be handled with caution, Omicron could be between 35% and 80% less severe than Delta.
But other experts point out that greater contagion can wipe out the benefit of a less dangerous variant, as many countries report record cases since the start of the pandemic.
Experts are also uncertain whether this apparently lower severity comes from the variant's intrinsic characteristics, or whether it is related to the fact that it strikes populations that are already partially immune (by the vaccine or a previous infection).