A top doctor has issued a severe warning about the Omicron variant.
Speaking at a British parliamentary committee on Tuesday, Moderna chief health officer Paul Burton said he disagreed with the widespread belief that Omicron produced less harmful symptoms than other variants of Covid.
“There's certainly data, there have been some papers published again from South Africa earlier from the pandemic when people — and certainly immunocompromised people — can harbour both viruses,” he said.Moderna's Chief Medical Officer Paul Burton warned that if Omicron and Delta were to coexist for an extended time, people could become infected with both strains of the virus simultaneously.
“There are 50, 60, 70 thousand cases of Delta a day in some European countries, including the UK. To bring Omicron into that background of Covid is concerning.” But last Thursday, Professor Kelly changed his tone as he warned Australians not to underestimate the new strain. “Some of the mutations in that virus are suggestive that it may be more transmissible or that it could actually avoid some of the immune system that we have to protect ourselves against that virus.”
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