Early feedback on Omicron severity ‘encouraging’: Fauci
- Early indications suggest Omicron may be less dangerous than Delta variant
- Cases of Omicron have so far been confirmed in dozens of countries
Early indications of the severity of the Omicron Covid-19 variant are “a bit encouraging,” top US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci said on Sunday, while cautioning more information was still needed.
“Omicron has a transmission advantage” in South Africa, where the variant was first reported, said Fauci in a CNN interview, noting the country had a low level of cases before it saw “almost a vertical spike upwards, which is almost exclusively Omicron”.
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“Though it’s too early to really make any definitive statements about it, thus far, it does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it. Thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging,” said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Medical experts have in recent days underscored that the South African population skews young and that more severe cases could emerge in the coming weeks.
Lab tests are under way to determine whether Omicron – a heavily mutated strain of the virus – is more transmissible than other strains, resistant to immunity from vaccination and infection or more severe, with results expected within weeks.
“I think that there’s a real risk that we’re going to see a decrease in effectiveness of the vaccines,” Stephen Hoge, president of vaccine producer Moderna, told ABC.