Geneva: WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has said that the Omicron variant is infecting both vaccinated and unvaccinated people worldwide and it appears that vaccines are still proving to be effective because even though the numbers are going up exponentially in many countries, severity of the disease has not surged to a new level.
“As expected, T cell immunity holding up better against Omicron. This will protect us against severe disease. Please get vaccinated if you have not,” said Ms Swaminathan in a tweet on Wednesday. Either vaccines or prior infections with COVID-19 trigger human T cell response.
She also said that there are biological factors also that decide a vaccine’s effectiveness. “It includes age, underlying illnesses and we know and proved it with all the variants that the older you are the more the underlying illnesses and co-morbidities the more vulnerable you are to get the disease,” she said.
She further stated that now the evidence on Omicron is just emerging and it would still be premature to conclude definitely but all of the lab studies are pointing towards a reduction in neutralisation capacity and also what it is clinically seen that people who have been vaccinated, people who have had prior infections are still getting breakthrough infections with Omicron.
