European medical said omicron cases
An official from Europe's top medical regulatory body said on Tuesday that the COVID-19 omicron variant could turn the epidemic into a pandemic.
Marco Cavaleri, head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) vaccination strategy, told reporters on Tuesday that the natural impact of the omicron strain infectious could accelerate progress in the disease.
"With the increase in human immunizations - as well as Omicron, there will be more environmental protection by vaccine - we will be closer to the status quo," Cavaleri said during a press conference. , according to Al Jazeera.
Once the virus has spread it means that the population has received enough widespread protection - either infection or vaccination - that transmission, hospitalization and death will begin to decline.
Reports from South Africa, where the omicron was first discovered, show that although the differences are highly contagious, they do not lead to the same increase in mortality and mortality. Another South African study released last month found that omicron could reduce delta-induced infections by creating a variety of antibodies, a result that has not been seen in many other SARS-CoV-2 virus mutations.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Reuters reported that Cavaleri also expressed doubts about the need for a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, telling reporters that the process "will not continue."
"While the use of additional boosters may be part of the emergency plan, short-term repeated vaccinations will not represent a long-term strategy," he said.
"It is important that there are positive discussions about policy choices to ensure that we have a strategy that not only works ... and we try to come up with a way to prevent future divisions," he added.
Cavaleri's speech resembles that of British infectious disease specialist Sir Andrew Pollard, who said earlier this month that repeated vaccinations every few months "do not stop."
Pollard, who helped develop the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, said, "It's not cheap, sustainable or necessary to vaccinate everyone in the world every four to six months."