Virologist Altstein believes that the omicron strain COVID-19 will come to Russia in the coming months spoke about the timing of the appearance in Russia of a new strain of COVID-19. This is reported by “Secret”.
The expert admitted that the omicron strain of coronavirus will come to the country in the coming months. At the same time, he noted that the new variant of the virus has not yet been studied, since it was discovered only on November 11.
“It is not yet clear how the antibodies caused by modern vaccines affect him. Time will also show whether it will spread. But if it turns out to be as epidemic as the delta strain, no authorities will be able to keep track of it, “Altstein believes.
He explained that the omicron strain raised concerns due to the large number of mutations in gene for the spike protein, but it cannot yet be determined if this makes it more infectious. The virologist urged not to panic ahead of time, but at the same time emphasized that Russia needs to prepare for the emergence of this strain and create the basis for new vaccine variants.
Earlier, the Gamaleya Center stated that the need to produce a new variant of the Sputnik vaccine V “will appear only if the effectiveness of the existing drug decreases by 8-10 times. It will be possible to talk about this substantively only after studying the strain from South Africa, noted the director of the center Alexander Gintsburg.