The first scientific study on the new variant of the Coronavirus, "Omicron," concluded that it has a significant ability to evade human immunity compared to previous strains of the virus. Results from the study, reported by the British network "Sky News," suggest that the "Omicron" variant can cause a large wave of infections, even among populations with high levels of antibodies.
Researchers at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa noted that there are still questions that need answers, such as "the variant's ability to evade the immunity conferred by current vaccines, and the potential impacts of waning immunity against infection, especially severe disease or death."
The researchers studied approximately 2.8 million cases of COVID-19 in South Africa since March 2020, finding that more than 35,000 individuals had been infected with the virus multiple times. The risk of reinfection was lower for the "Delta" and "Beta" variants compared to the first wave of infections that occurred in March 2020, linked to the initial strain that emerged from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the pandemic.
Most importantly, according to the researchers, the risk of reinfection with the "Omicron" variant is 2.4 times greater compared to the first wave. The study was published on the medRxiv platform, which shares scientific studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed.
Researchers stated that they found evidence of a significant and persistent increase in the risk of contracting COVID-19, with results temporally aligned with the emergence of the "Omicron" variant, indicating its capability to infect those who have previously recovered from the disease.
