The disease caused by the subvariant of Omicron variant of the Coronavirus is equal in severity as its original strain, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced.
Addressing a virtual press conference, Dr. Boris Pavlin, Epidemiologist at the WHO’s Emerging Diseases Surveillance and Response Team, said that existing COVID-19 vaccines will also offer the same level of protection against the subvariant as the original Omicron variant.
The statement from the WHO comes at a time when Omicron’s subvariant named BA.2 continues to replace the original Omicron variant which is identified as BA.1.
While the original Omicron strain has spread all over the world and accounts for a majority of cases globally, its subvariant has been detected in around 60 countries so far.
Denmark remains the most affected country where the subvariant of Omicron now accounts for over 80% of the total infections. Experts fear that the subvariant is spreading faster than the original variant and could outpace it within the next few weeks.
The original Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa in November last year. Although it is a highly transmissible variant of the Coronavirus, it is known to cause less severe infection than previous strains such as Delta.
