Beijing, December 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization said on december 15 that preliminary evidence shows that the mutated new coronavirus Olmikhaon strain may weaken the effectiveness of the new crown vaccine, and people are at higher risk of repeated infection with this strain. However, the effectiveness of existing tests and treatments does not appear to have been compromised.
South Africa reported the detection of the new strain to WHO on 24 November, which subsequently listed it as a variant of "needing attention" and named it Omiljung.
In the weekly epidemiological report released by WHO on the 15th, it wrote that 77 countries and regions have reported cases of infection with this strain.
This is a video screenshot of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attending a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 7. (Xinhua News Agency)
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on the 14th that the actual situation is likely to be that this strain has spread to most countries and regions around the world.
The report writes that from the current limited data, the Olmiqueron strain appears to have spread faster than another variant, delta strain. The above conclusions have been verified in South Africa, where the Olmirkjong strain is "mainstream" or in the United Kingdom, where the Delta strain is "mainstream".
According to Data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the Omiljun strain spreads extremely quickly in South Africa, with the average daily new infection reported in South Africa on November 29 being 8.07 per 100,000 people in the past seven days, and increasing to 34.37 cases per 100,000 people on the 13th of this month.
A healthcare worker in protective clothing prepares to take samples of testers at a "no-get out" COVID-19 testing center in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on December 15. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Zou Zheng)
British Health Minister Saeed Javid said on the 13th that the infection of the Olmikron strain currently accounts for 44% of the new confirmed cases in London and will become the "mainstream" strain in the capital within 48 hours.
WHO says clinical data on the extent of the Omiljung strain are still quite limited at this stage. Due to the time lag from the increase in the number of confirmed cases to severely ill patients and the increase in deaths, it is expected that more information about the pathogenicity of the Aumequeron strain will be obtained in the coming weeks.
Preliminary data suggest that the Aumechjung strain may make the COVID-19 vaccine less effective in preventing infection and transmission. At the same time, people are at increased risk of repeated infection with the strain.
People walk in Times Square in New York on Dec. 14. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Guo Ke)
According to WHO, it is not yet possible to determine the extent to which the Aumecreon strain evades immunity, nor is it clear how protective existing vaccines are to prevent the development of severe illness and death in people infected with Ami kerong, and more data are needed to be further understood.
Based on this judgment, WHO considers the risk of global spread of the Omiljung strain to be "very high".
The report also notes that the Omiljung strain does not appear to have affected the accuracy of the currently widely used COVID-19 detection methods, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing and rapid antibody testing. In addition, treatments for severe and critically ill patients are expected to be equally effective for people infected with Omikeron. (Zhang Jing)