Next COVID variant will be more contagious than Omicron, perhaps deadlier, warns WHO

By Team Newsable | First Published Feb 9, 2022, 2:50 PM IST

World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist and technical lead on Covid-19 Dr Maria Van Kerkhove in a recent press briefing stressed that the pandemic is far from over and future variants will be in some way more virulent than Omicron is now.

Even as the world is trying to return to normalcy with the Omicron wave subsiding, the World Health Organization has warned that the next Covid-19 variant that will rise to world attention will be more contagious than Omicron, perhaps, more deadly than its predecessors.

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“Omicron will not be the last variant you will hear us speaking about. The next variant of concern will be more fit and what we mean by that is it will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating. The big question is whether or not future variants will be more or less severe,” said Maria Van Kerkhove.

What are potential future scenarios on and ? WHO's Dr explains. ⬇ pic.twitter.com/joaHlgmLKi

— World Health Organization Philippines (@WHOPhilippines)

She further warned that the next variant could more easily evade immunity, rendering vaccines less effective. “We do not want to be in that situation. So, we want to make sure that we reduce the spread,” she said.

“We expect that with the right interventions, the circulation of Covid-19 will be low. But even within those circulations, there will be flare-ups among people who are not protected by the vaccine or those who have waning immunity,” added Dr Van Kerkhove.

While omicron appears to have peaked in some countries, it’s gaining ground in others, WHO officials said.

Also read: WHO laments 500,000 COVID deaths due to Omicron

Dr Van Kerkhove has cautioned that there is “no guarantee” the coronavirus will get weaker as it evolves and that although the world might hope that’s the case, “we can’t bank on it.”

The Delta variant that was first detected in India in October 2020 was labelled a variant of concern by the WHO. It spread 50 per cent faster than the Alpha variant, which was 50 per cent more contagious than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, more commonly known as the coronavirus.

Also read: Coronavirus: India clocks 71,365 new COVID-19 cases, active caseload falls to 8.92 lakh

Six months later, the Delta strain ravaged the country, causing a record-breaking number of daily cases and claiming lives. By June 2021, it caused a fresh surge in cases in the UK, Israel, Russia, Australia and several other parts of the world.

Omicron after being detected in South Africa in late November 2021 was tagged as a variant of concern and replaced Delta as the dominant strain in a much shorter interval. Omicron, though milder is at least two to four time more transmissible than the Delta variant. It also possesses an enhanced ability to evade vaccines, on top of a reinfection rate five times that of Delta.

Also read: NeoCov coronavirus discovered by Chinese scientists need further study, says WHO

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