WHO: the new Omikron sub-variant does not cause more severe disease

Last week, the Statens Serum Institut, which monitors infectious diseases in Denmark, reported that the new Omikron BA.2 sub-variant is 1.5 times more infectious than the original BA.1 strain.

Although a study by Danish scientists showed that BA.2 is much more infectious than BA.1 among both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, at the same time its results indicate that unvaccinated people are easier to infect than those who are abused.

However, there is no indication that the BA.2 sub-variant was more severe than the original BA.1 variant. According to Maria Van Kerkhove (WHO technical director), both the Omikron variant BA.1 and its sub-variant BA.2 cause less serious complications than the Delta variant.

This does not mean that the threat should be underestimated: “We need people to be aware that this virus is still circulating and is still evolving. So it is really important that we take action to reduce our exposure to this virus, whatever variant is circulating, "said Van Kerkhove.

Source: WebMD