Omicron less likely to send patients to hospital: Studies | Coronavirus pandemic News
Two new British studies provide some early hints that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than the Delta version.
Scientists stress that even if the findings of these early studies hold up, any reductions in severity need to be weighed against the fact that Omicron spreads much faster than Delta and is better able to evade vaccines. The sheer number of infections could still overwhelm hospitals.
Still, the new studies released on Wednesday seem to bolster earlier research that suggests Omicron may not be as harmful as the Delta variant, said Manuel Ascano Jr, a Vanderbilt University biochemist who studies viruses.
An analysis from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team estimated hospitalisation risks for Omicron cases in England, finding people infected with the variant are about 20 percent less likely to go to the hospital at all than those infected with the Delta variant, and 40 percent less likely to be hospitalised for a night or more.
The news comes as American regulators authorised Pfizer’s anti-COVID pill, Paxlovid, for high-risk people aged 12 and up.
Despite the recent developments, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the rush in wealthy countries to roll out additional COVID vaccine doses is deepening the inequity in access to vaccines and is prolonging the pandemic.
“No country can boost its way out of the pandemic,” he said on Wednesday.
Here are the latest updates:
US authorises Pfizer’s COVID pill as Omicron surges
The United States has authorised Pfizer’s anti-COVID pill for high-risk people aged 12 and up, as a surge of cases driven by the highly infectious Omicron coronavirus variant threatened holiday plans and Americans struggled to find tests.
Paxlovid, which comprises two types of tablets, was granted an emergency use authorisation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after a clinical trial showed it to reduce the risk of hospitalisations and deaths among at-risk people by 88 percent.
The US has spent $5.3bn procuring 10 million courses of the treatment, with the first 265,000 to be delivered in January and the rest by late August, White House Covid response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters.
About 150,000 Americans are getting infected every day, with 7,800 being hospitalised and 1,200 dying, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
The highly mutated Omicron variant accounts for 90 percent of all cases in some US regions, CDC director Rochelle Walensky told reporters.
Scotland reports fewer COVID-19 hospitalisations with Omicron
In Scotland, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus appears less likely to result in COVID-19 hospitalisation than Delta, according to an analysis of early data that was posted ahead of peer review on Wednesday.
The updated statistics agree with data released earlier on Wednesday from South Africa and from England, also in advance of peer review.
At the University of Edinburgh, researchers tracked nearly 152,500 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including 22,205 infected with the Omicron variant. Half of the Omicron-infected patients were under the age of 40.
The number of Omicron patients who needed to be hospitalised was 68 percent lower than what the researchers would have expected, based on the rate in patients infected with Delta.
Biden welcomes approval of Pfizer oral COVID pill
United States President Joe Biden has welcomed the US authorisation of Pfizer’s antiviral COVID-19 pill — the first at-home treatment for the coronavirus — calling it “promising”.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the drug for emergency use on Wednesday.
We received good news today in our fight against COVID-19. The FDA granted emergency use authorization of the Pfizer antiviral pill, a promising new treatment option that will significantly reduce hospitalization and death as we battle the more transmissible Omicron variant.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 22, 2021
US expert Fauci warns against large gatherings
Top United States infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci has warned against attending large gatherings during the holiday season, saying that they are not considered safe even for vaccinated people and those who have received a booster dose.
“There are many of these parties that have 30, 40, 50 people in which you do not know the vaccination status of individuals. Those are the kind of functions in the context of COVID — and particularly in the context of Omicron — that you do not want to go to,” Fauci said at a White House briefing.
“So to the extent possible, we urge you to stay away from those situations that could put you at a higher risk.”
Fauci had said that small family gatherings “in the setting of the home” remain safe for vaccinated people.
