As Omicron spreads, it is “more important than ever to get the booster shot”, says infectious disease expert at QF

According to several epidemiology experts, the silver-lining of Omicron spreading at breakneck speed is that it likely means that the current wave will not last as long as the previous ones.

“We saw this with South Africa, despite a high number of infections initially, the country reached its peak in about a month and has already started lifting some restrictions,” said Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Qatar Foundation partner university Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).

Another positive sign is that there is increasing evidence which indicates that the Omicron variant affects the nasal passage and throat tissue much more than the lung tissue, thereby resulting in less severe symptoms.

According to Prof. Abu-Raddad, the virus is replicating very efficiently in the nose or throat tissue which is likely be why the Omicron variant is highly transmissible. Similarly, its slower replication in the lung tissue could be one reason why hospitalization rates are low despite the high prevalence of infection, essentially making it a “more transmissible but less deadly variant.”

With people that were previously vaccinated testing positive for the Omicron variant, there is confusion about how they contracted the virus, despite being fully vaccinated.

“It is no secret that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines wanes with time. With Omicron, we are seeing that the immunity is significantly reduced in those who were vaccinated more than six months ago. Therefore, with Omicron rapidly spreading, it is now more important than ever to get the booster shot,” said Prof. Abu-Raddad.

Prof. Abu-Raddad urged people to remember that while vaccines might not be protecting against infection in all cases, they are certainly protecting against severe infection and hospitalization. “The likelihood of someone vaccinated developing severe infection due to Omicron is very low.”

Explaining the difference between a vaccinated and an unvaccinated person contracting the Omicron virus, he said, is that this variant replicates extremely quickly, so within a short span of time the infected person is harboring a huge number of the virus. The immune system on the other hand takes some time to discover the infection and to act against it.

Now, if this person is vaccinated, or has had COVID previously, it means they have immune memory which allows the body to act fast because it already knows what to do from previous experience.

With Omicron replicating as fast it does, it is still able to infect the person before the body can mount an immune response, but soon the immune system catches up and is able to defeat the virus, which is why vaccinated people contracting Omicron are seeing symptoms similar to that of a cold.

“The same is not true for an unvaccinated person, because the lag between them being infected and the body producing an immune response will be much more significant and can result in serious disease,” said Prof. Abu-Raddad.

Commenting on whether it’s fair to say we are back to where we were in March 2020, Prof. Abu-Raddad said, “Absolutely not! If anything, we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were then. Today, we are much more knowledgeable about COVID-19, we have rapid testing available, we know what precautionary measures to take and how, and above all, we have vaccines that work.”

He urged the public to practice caution but not to panic. “Yes, this is a new challenge, but we are well equipped to deal with it. Let’s all wear our masks, continue to practice social distancing, sanitize often, and most importantly get our vaccine booster shot.”