Fauci: "Omicron" May Be Less Dangerous Than "Delta"

The chief American scientist, Anthony Fauci, said that initial indications may reveal that the "Omicron" mutant is no worse than previous strains such as the “Delta” and maybe milder.

Fauci,  the chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, pided the known and anonymous data about the  "Omicron" into three main groups according to transmissibility, the extent of evasion of immunity generated by infection or vaccines, and severity of the disease.

He added in an interview with Agence France-Presse  (AFP) that the new mutant is "clearly transmissible", and is probably stronger in this aspect than "Delta", the global strain currently prevailing. He stressed the importance of taking precautionary measures to prevent the new mutant of the Omicron.

On the other hand, researchers at Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical giant, confirmed that "Omicron" appears to be less severe than the previous mutants, but it spreads faster than them.

Epidemiological data from around the world also indicate that the probability of re-infection is higher than normal due to the new mutated Coronavirus "Omicron", according to the agency.

Fauci, who is also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States of America (USA), said that the results of laboratory experiments that tested the effectiveness of antibodies from current vaccines against "Omicron" will appear in the "next few days or within a week."

The US medical official added the new mutant is almost certainly not more severe than the Delta, indicating that there are some suggestions that it may be less severe because when you look at some of the groups that are being monitored in South Africa, it seems that the ratio between the number of infections and the number of hospitalizations is lesser than delta.