Considerations regarding the discover of the new variant Omicron

Maria Van Kerkhove

Inserted 2 years ago

“Even if we have a large number of cases that are mild, some of those individuals will need hospitalisations. They will need to go into ICU and some people will die… We don't want to see that happen on top of an already difficult situation with Delta circulating globally.”

Aljazeera

World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist

05 Dec 2021 4 2

Stephen Hoge

Inserted 2 years ago

“I think that there's a real risk that we're going to see a decrease in effectiveness of the vaccines. What I don't know is how substantial that is. Is it going to be the kind of thing that we saw with the Delta variant, which is, ultimately vaccines were still effective, or are we going to see something like a 50 percent decrease in efficacy, which would mean we need to reboot the vaccines.”

Aljazeera

Moderna's president

05 Dec 2021 4 3

Anthony Fauci

Inserted 2 years ago

“Though it's too early to really make any definitive statements about it, thus far it does not look like there's a great degree of severity to it. Thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging. But we have really got to be careful before we make any determinations that it is less severe, or it really doesn't cause any severe illness, comparable to Delta.”

Aljazeera

Top US infectious disease expert

05 Dec 2021 3 2

Kristalina Georgieva

Inserted 2 years ago

“A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth.”

Reuters

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund

03 Dec 2021 2 2

Soumya Swaminathan

Inserted 2 years ago

“How worried should we be? We need to be prepared and cautious, not panic, because we're in a different situation to a year ago. Delta accounts for 99 percent of infections around the world. This variant would have to be more transmissible to outcompete and become dominant worldwide. It is possible, but it's not possible to predict. We need to wait, let's hope it's milder … but it's too early to conclude about the variant as a whole.”

Aljazeera

World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief scientist

03 Dec 2021 6 2

John Nkengasong

Inserted 2 years ago

“We are very concerned but are not worried that the situation cannot be managed. There is no need to panic. We are not defenceless. This will be the fourth wave that we are facing as a continent. We know how to deploy rapid responders, we know how to provide the interventions that are necessary.”

Aljazeera

Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

02 Dec 2021 2 2

Laurence Boone

Inserted 2 years ago

“One [scenario] is where it creates more supply disruptions and prolongs higher inflation for longer. And one where it is more severe and we have to use more mobility restrictions, in which case demand could decline and inflation could actually recede much faster than what we have here. If the Omicron turned out to be more evil than other variants governments could be called upon to step in to cushion the blow for businesses and households. That could be a scenario where we need more fiscal support at this stage.”

Theguardian

OECD Chief Economist

01 Dec 2021 8 3

Stephane Bancel

Inserted 2 years ago

“There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level … we had with Delta. I think it's going to be a material drop. I just don't know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I've talked to … are like 'this is not going to be good'.”

Aljazeera

Chief Executive Officer of Moderna Therapeutics

30 Nov 2021 4 3

Ugur Sahin

Inserted 2 years ago

“Our message is: Don't freak out, the plan remains the same: Speed up the administration of a third booster shot. Our belief [that the vaccines work against Omicron] is rooted in science: If a virus achieves immune escape, it achieves it against antibodies, but there is the second level of immune response that protects from severe disease-the T-cells.”

Aljazeera

Chief executive of Germany’s BioNTech

30 Nov 2021 6 4

Christian Drosten

Inserted 2 years ago

“It feels different from the first bits of information we got about the Delta variant.”

Nytimes

Virologist and Director of the Institute of Virology at the Charité Hospital in Berlin

29 Nov 2021 3 2

Roberto Speranza

Inserted 2 years ago

“The identification of the Omicron variant in the southern part of Africa confirms the urgency to do more to vaccinate the population of the most fragile countries. It is not enough to donate doses.”

Nytimes

Minister of Health of Italy

29 Nov 2021 4 3

Richard Hatchett

Inserted 2 years ago

“The inequity that has characterised the global response has now come home to roost.”

Aljazeera

Head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

29 Nov 2021 3 4

Peter Hotez

Inserted 2 years ago

“The sky is not falling. We've not seen any evidence that Omicron causes any more severe disease than any other variants.”

Cnn

Dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine

29 Nov 2021 3 2

Peter English

Inserted 2 years ago

“The number of mutations per se does not mean that the new variant will cause any problems; although it may make it more likely to look different to the immune system.”

Cnn

Former chair of the British Medical Association's Public Health Medicine Committee

29 Nov 2021 4 2

Zhang Wenhong

Inserted 2 years ago

“It is hard to say that the global effort in fighting against coronavirus has gone up in smoke. Two weeks of data and lab materials are needed to make a precise judgment of the new variant. The vaccination rate in South Africa, where the new variant caused a jump in infection, is very low, with just 24 percent of fully vaccinated individuals. If the situation [in South Africa] occurred in Israel [where more than 80 percent are vaccinated], then undoubtedly, we would say the world is facing another round of a tough COVID-19 fight.”

Globaltimes

China's leading infectious disease specialist

28 Nov 2021 8 3

Shabir Madhi

Inserted 2 years ago

“Its naïve for developed countries to believe they can stop the spread of this variant with a blanket ban on countries in southern Africa. The virus has already found its way into these societies from individuals that haven't even travelled to or come into contact with anyone from southern Africa. The fact it was discovered here does not make it a South African variant - it was merely discovered here. In South Africa we have one of the globe's best COVID sequencing capacities based on our experience with treating HIV and TB. We have been ahead of the game for a while now and we are thus a victim of our success.”

Aljazeera

South African vaccinologist

28 Nov 2021 5 4

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“Even if we have a large number of cases that are mild, some of those individuals will need hospitalisations. They will need to go into ICU and some people will die… We don't want to see that happen on top of an already difficult situation with Delta circulating globally.”

“A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth.”

“There is no world, I think, where [the effectiveness] is the same level … we had with Delta. I think it's going to be a material drop. I just don't know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I've talked to … are like 'this is not going to be good'.”

“It feels different from the first bits of information we got about the Delta variant.”

“The identification of the Omicron variant in the southern part of Africa confirms the urgency to do more to vaccinate the population of the most fragile countries. It is not enough to donate doses.”

“The inequity that has characterised the global response has now come home to roost.”

“The sky is not falling. We've not seen any evidence that Omicron causes any more severe disease than any other variants.”

“The number of mutations per se does not mean that the new variant will cause any problems; although it may make it more likely to look different to the immune system.”

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