'Likely to Spread to India': Centre Answers Concerns About Omicron, Third Wave

The Health Ministry said that the Omicron COVID-19 variant "is likely to spread to more countries including India."

The Union Health Ministry on Friday, 3 December, said that the new Omicron COVID-19 variant "is likely to spread to more countries including India."

A press release issued by the ministry, wherein it answered some frequently asked questions about the new variant, renders the following response about the possibility of a third wave in India:

"Omicron cases are increasingly being reported from countries outside of South Africa and given its characteristics, it is likely to spread to more countries including India. However, the scale and magnitude of rise in cases and most importantly the severity of disease that will be caused is still not clear. Further, given the fast pace of vaccination in India and high exposure to delta variant as evidenced by high seropositivity, the severity of the disease is anticipated to be low. However, scientific evidence is still evolving."

So far, two cases of the new coronavirus variant have been confirmed in India.

The Indian government is monitoring the situation closely and is issuing suitable guidelines from time to time, the official release observes.

It adds that the scientific and medical community is geared up for developing and deploying diagnostics, carrying out genomic surveillance, generating evidence about viral and epidemiologic characteristics, and development of therapeutics.

'Preliminary Evidence of Detrimental Change in COVID-19 Epidemiology': Health Ministry on Omicron

The World Health Organization on 26 November had declared the Omicron COVID variant, first reported in South Africa, a "variant of concern."

"It is important to highlight that Omicron has been declared VoC based on the observed mutations, their predicted features of increased transmission and immune evasion, and preliminary evidence of detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, such as increased reinfections. The definitive evidence for increased remission and immune evasion is awaited," the health ministry said on Friday.

Asserting that the commonly used method of diagnostic for coronavirus variants remains the RT-PCR test, the government noted that "for final confirmation of the omicron variant, genomic sequencing is required."

'Take Both Doses of Vaccine,' Govt Recommends

The ministry noted that vaccines are expected to offer protection against severe disease even in the case of Omicron infection, and said, "While, there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on Omicron, some of the mutations reported on Spike gene may decrease the efficacy of existing vaccines."

"However, vaccine protection is also by antibodies as well as by cellular immunity, which is expected to be relatively better preserved," it added

It is essential to mask yourself properly, take both doses of vaccines (if not yet vaccinated), maintain social distancing and maintain good ventilation to the maximum possible, the government advised.