|HT|
It's unclear whether omicron causes milder symptoms than other coronavirus variants — though experts still urge the public to get vaccinated. In the UK, at least one death due to the omicron variant has been confirmed. The new coronavirus omicron variant has spread rapidly around the world. It has already been detected in at least 57 countries on six continents.
Christian Drosten, the chief virologist at the Charite hospital in Berlin, is particularly concerned about the speed at which omicron is spreading. In South Africa and the United Kingdom, the number of cases is doubling every three to four days.
Another cause for concern is that omicron can partially elude the protective effects of existing vaccines. This means that even those who are vaccinated, including those who have received a booster shot, can become infected with the variant.
Recent studies all show a strong, approximately 40-fold reduction in the neutralizing effect of antibodies in a number of combinations of vaccination and natural infection. This means that neither naturally nor vaccine-induced antibodies can bind the virus well and thus prevent it from entering the human cell. In other words, omicron has the potential to evade the body's immune response in some cases.
(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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