GENEVA, Dec 8, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Omicron does not appear to cause more severe
disease than previous Covid variants, and is "highly unlikely" to fully dodge
vaccine protections, a top WHO official told AFP Tuesday.

   Speaking to AFP, the World Health Organization's second-in-command, said
that while a lot remained to be learned about the new, heavily mutated
variant of Covid-19, preliminary data indicated it did not make people sicker
than Delta and other strains.

   "The preliminary data doesn't indicate that this is more severe. In fact,
if anything, the direction is towards less severity," WHO emergencies
director Michael Ryan said in an interview, insisting though that more
research was needed.

   "It's very early days, we have to be very careful how we interpret that
signal."

   At the same time, he said there was no sign that Omicron could fully
sidestep protections provided by existing Covid vaccines.

   "We have highly effective vaccines that have proved effective against all
the variants so far, in terms of severe disease and hospitalisation," the 56-
year-old epidemiologist and former trauma surgeon said.

   "There's no reason to expect that it wouldn't be so" for Omicron, he said,
pointing to early data from South Africa where the variant was first detected
that "suggest the vaccine at least is holding up in protection terms".

   - 'Best weapon' -

   Ryan acknowledged it was possible that the existing vaccines might prove
less effective against Omicron, which counts more than 30 mutations on the
spike protein that dots the surface of the coronavirus and allows it to
invade cells.

   But he said it was "highly unlikely" it would be able to evade vaccine
protections altogether.

   "We have to confirm if there's any lapse in that protection, but I would
expect to see some protection there.

   "The preliminary data from South Africa wouldn't indicate that we will
have a catastrophic loss of efficacy. In fact, the opposite at the moment."

   In the fight against all Covid variants, he said, "the best weapon we have
right now is to get vaccinated."

   Two weeks after first being identified, Omicron has been found in dozens
of countries around the world.

   Early data from South Africa indicates that the new variant is likely more
transmissible than previous variants, Ryan said, adding that this was not a
surprise.

   "When any new variant emerges, it will tend to be more transmissible,
because it's got to compete with previous variants," he said.

   - Same rules -

   The fast-talking Irishman said one could expect Omicron to gradually
replace Delta as the dominant strain.

   But he pointed out that Omicron had so far been seen spreading especially
quickly in South Africa, where Delta had waned, and may just be "exploiting a
gap in the transmission of Delta".

   There are also indications that Omicron is better at infecting people who
have been vaccinated or already had Covid.

   "There is some evidence to suggest that reinfection with Omicron is more
common than it was with previous waves or previous variants," Ryan said.

   But "we're particularly interested in seeing not whether you can be
reinfected with Omicron, but whether any new infection is more or less
severe."

   He said that, as the current Covid vaccines aim to prevent severe disease
but do not necessarily protect against simply contracting the virus,
reinfections with mild or no symptoms were of lesser concern.

   In any case, Ryan said, despite its mutations, the new variant was still
Covid, and should be fought with the same measures, including vaccines, masks
and physical distancing.

   "The virus hasn't changed its nature. It may have changed in terms of its
efficiency, but it hasn't changed the game entirely," he said.

   "The rules of the game are still the same."