COVID-19 | Here's what health experts have to say about the fast moving Omicron variant

Representative image: Reuters

As the fear of COVID-19 Omicron Variant's rapid spread looms large across the countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe warned that cases around the globe could increase the risk of a newer, more dangerous variant emerging.

While the variant is spreading like wildfire worldwide, it appears to be far less severe than initially feared and has raised hopes to overcome the pandemic and getting back to normality.

"We are seeing more and more studies pointing out that Omicron is infecting the upper part of the body. Unlike other ones, the lungs who would be causing severe pneumonia," WHO Incident Manager Abdi Mahamud told Geneva-based journalists, reported news agency Reuters.

Meanwhile, WHO's senior emergencies officer Catherine Smallwood told AFP that the soaring infection rates could have the opposite effect.

"The more Omicron spreads, the more it transmits and the more it replicates, the more likely it is to throw out a new variant. Now, Omicron is lethal, it can cause death ... maybe a little bit less than Delta, but who's to say what the next variant might throw out," Smallwood told AFP in an interview.

Europe has registered more than 100 million coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, and more than five million new cases in the last week of 2021, "almost dwarfing what we have seen in the past", Smallwood added.

Smallwood also noted that while "on an individual level there's probably a decreased risk of hospitalisation" with the Omicron variant compared to Delta, overall, Omicron could pose a greater threat because of the sheer number of cases.

On January 3, health experts noted that existing vaccines are not as effective against Omicron as they were against the original virus, and thus boosters may help enhance immunity.

"Vaccines bypass natural immunity. The efficacy of existing vaccines is not as effective as it was against the virus that originated from Wuhan," Dr Sanjay Kumar Rai, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi said.

In Louisiana, United States, where COVID-19 hospitalizations have tripled in the past two weeks, local doctor said that many patients that her hospital sees are unvaccinated. Dr Catherine O'Neal added that they often have more severe illness with pneumonia and need to be intubated or need high-flow oxygen. Others who haven't had a booster or are only partially vaccinated are suffering with a kind of flu-like illness and are "fragile," she told CNN.

The Indian Council of Medical Research also said recently that all COVID vaccines do not prevent infection and are primarily disease-modifying, reported IANS.

On January 1, AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria said that the variant mainly affects the upper respiratory tract and airways, rather than the lungs. Those without comorbidities should not panic and start blocking hospital beds. Guleria stressed the focus should be on home isolation since recovery time for the Omicron variant is much faster, reported The Indian Express.

First reported in South Africa, Omicron has become a dominant variant of coronavirus in some parts of the world. India continues to report a rapid surge in new COVID-19 cases with 58,097 new cases in the last 24 hours as the country's active caseload currently stands at 2,14,004 on January 5. A total of 2,135 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected across 24 states and UTs so far, out of which 828 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union health ministry.