No Severe Omicron Cases Among Vaccinated Patients, Top Israeli Expert Says

After Omicron was detected in Israel, experts add that it will be two weeks before there is credible data on the variant’s vaccine resistance. Health minister says Israel has been preparing for the arrival of a new variant for some time.

Prof. Dror Mevorach, Head of the Coronavirus Department at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, said the preliminary reports on the clinical condition of people infected with the new variant Omicron are encouraging.

“If it continues this way, this might be a relatively mild illness compared to the Delta variant, and paradoxically, if it takes over, it will lead to lower infection rates,” and it will be easier to deal with globally.

“It’s still early to say, but not everything that looks bad is really bad. At this point it’s important to collect information, not speculations.” 

Israel’s Chief of Public Health Services, Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, warned Sunday that the potential for infection with the COVID variant Omicron is “very high,” but stressed that in cases where vaccinated people were infected they became only slightly ill.

According to the South Africa Medical Association, people infected with the Omicron variant have shown only mild symptoms. Angelique Coetzee, SAMA’s chairwoman, told the BBC that the cases identified so far are not severe. However, she noted that research on the Omicron variant is still in its initial stages.

According to the report, Omicron patients tended to be younger, and the variant was not found as often among the older population. Those infected with the variant mainly experienced fatigue and body aches. Still, it is still unknown what effect infection has on the older adults with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.

The Health Ministry’s Director-General, Prof. Nachman Ash said Israel’s response “isn’t hysteria, but concern… It’s important to take measures”. Ash said he assesses it would take about two weeks before there is credible information concerning the variant’s resistance to existing vaccines. He added that it’s likely the vaccines would prevent serious cases of the new variant.

Editors Notes:

THIS EXCERPT IS FROM AN ARTICLE BY NOA SHPIGEL AND IDO EFRATI WHICH FIRST APPEARED IN HAARETZ.COM

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