“Some unpublished studies tell us that stopping a new virus requires 10-40 times more antibodies than those that are sufficient to neutralize the original strain,” he explained.
At the same time, the specialist added that the “omicron” strain can bypass both antibodies obtained after two vaccinations and those that appeared after recovery.
According to him, the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccination course can be discussed only after the third dose of vaccination. However, the specialist noted one nuance. “We should not think that the need to do a second injection is proof of the failure of these drugs against COVID,” said the virologist.
According to Palu, scientists cannot yet say for sure how much more painful the new strain is compared to delta.
“The experience of South Africa, which would seem to indicate this, does not work here. The population of South Africa is younger than the European one, the vaccination coverage rate is about 25%, and it is the summer of the southern hemisphere in the country now,” the specialist said.
As noted in the publication, the strain “omicron” has so far received a slight spread in Italy — last Sunday, December 19, this was confirmed by the head of the Ministry of Health of the country, Roberto Speranza. A day earlier, on December 18, 84 cases of infection with a new type of COVID were detected in Italy, nevertheless, the daily increase in this indicator was 29 infected.
According to the publication, in total, the increase in COVID-19 infections in Italy over the past week has almost reached 30 thousand cases per day.
On November 30, Roberto Cauda, professor of Infectious Diseases at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, called the methods of prevention “omicron”. According to him, this virus can be contained by the most ordinary measures — you need to continue wearing masks, gloves, and observe social distance. He also added that it is important to increase the pace of vaccination. As Cauda noted, more than 85% of the adult population has already been vaccinated in Italy, however, in his opinion, it is necessary to start vaccinating with the third dose.
At the same time, Cauda called for limiting the number of flights from South Africa and countries where the new strain was detected.