The health ministers of the G7 – a group of the most industrialized countries in the world – have called for cooperation on the Ômicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, which they consider to be “the greatest threat to public health in the world today”.
At the end of the last meeting during the British presidency of the G7, the ministers of Germany, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom declared themselves “deeply concerned by the increase in the number of cases” of the new variant.
In a statement, they considered “more important than ever to cooperate closely”, as well as “overseeing and sharing information”. In relation to vaccines, they insisted on the importance of “mobilization campaigns”.
The ministers “re-iterated the commitment” to “fight the ongoing pandemic and build defenses for the future”.
Recalling that “working together is crucial in the face of the rapidly growing wave of Ômicron”, they insisted on the importance of “equitable access to diagnoses, gene sequencing” as well as vaccines and treatments.
Biden alert
US President Joe Biden warned of a “winter of serious and deadly illnesses” for the unvaccinated. In many states, healthcare systems are under severe pressure due to the increase in Delta variant infections during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ômicron cases are also on the rise.
“For the unvaccinated, we are facing a winter of serious and deadly diseases. The only real protection is receiving the vaccine,” said Biden.
The Omicron variant was responsible for nearly 3% of covid-19 cases last Saturday (11) – compared to 0.4% the week before, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Based on the experience of other countries, the index is expected to continue to grow and could become dominant in the coming weeks.
“I suspect the numbers are going to skyrocket dramatically in the coming weeks,” said Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at New York University and Bellevue Hospital.
Céline expects the Ômicron variant wave to peak in January and fall during the month of February.
In a meeting with state leaders on Tuesday (14), the CDC presented two scenarios, based on models, of how the new variant could lead to infections in the coming weeks and months. Ômicron and Delta cases may peak in January.
For the expert, it is not clear which variant of SARS-CoV-2 (Delta or Ômicron) will dominate in the coming months or if they will coexist. Regardless, “we anticipate an increase in hospitalizations and the health system in the coming months.”
U.S
The United States has already surpassed 800,000 deaths from SARS-CoV-2.
The country was already facing a Delta wave, which began before the Thanksgiving holiday, and officials fear travel and meetings over Christmas and New Years could add explosive growth to an already tense situation.
Across the country, schools are registering an increase in cases and some are closing earlier or reducing in-person classes. In New York, Cornell University reported 903 cases among students in a week – many of them with the Ômicron variant and in people with the full vaccination.
Testes
In several states, hospitals are close to full capacity. “Health systems need a plan for the likely increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks,” added Céline Gounder. The infectious disease specialist advocates that public health authorities increase testing and surveillance across the country.
Some of the American Rescue Plan funds can be used at the state and local levels to purchase tests, which Massachusetts and Colorado states are already doing. “With Ômicron, frequent testing can be more important than it was with previous variants,” said Céline.
“Ômicron has a shorter incubation period, two to three days. If we want to detect most of these infections and do something to fight the contagion, we have to do a test every day,” he said.
The expert also explained that between 15% and 30% of positive tests must be sequenced to understand which variant is spreading across the country. “We have dramatically increased the number of tests performed, but we are not where we need to be. Wastewater surveillance can also be a useful tool to contain what is to come and quickly.”
In the New York and New Jersey areas, for example, Ômicron is present in 13% of cases.
Biden’s national plan to deal with the Ômicron variant excludes home stay restrictions and requests. Most states saw their local health powers significantly restricted during the pandemic, making it more difficult to adopt emergency measures to delay the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Intensifying vaccination, including the first dose and booster doses, will also be important to combat the current waves. Céliner argues that “this will require a planned campaign to educate the public about what is important – for example, vaccinating children”.
Improving ventilation and air filtration is also important, as is wearing quality masks.
The expert believes that it is too early to say whether Ômicron is more or less lethal than previous variants. “The virulence [capacidade de um microrganismo patogênico se multiplicar no organismo e provocar doença] it depends on the person’s age as well as other demographics, but age is probably the most important.”
Available evidence indicates that Ômicron is more transmissible and evasive of the immune system, making infection more likely among those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from the disease.
However, a panel of external CDC consultants recommended targeting mRNA vaccines for protection against covid-19 – that is, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines – in preference to Johnson & Johnson, due to clotting risks of the blood. The regulator has yet to approve this guidance.
By RTP – Lisbon
The health ministers of the G7 – a group of the most industrialized countries in the world – have called for cooperation on the Ômicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, which they consider to be “the greatest threat to public health in the world today”.
At the end of the last meeting during the British presidency of the G7, the ministers of Germany, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom declared themselves “deeply concerned by the increase in the number of cases” of the new variant.
In a statement, they considered “more important than ever to cooperate closely”, as well as “overseeing and sharing information”. In relation to vaccines, they insisted on the importance of “mobilization campaigns”.
The ministers “re-iterated the commitment” to “fight the ongoing pandemic and build defenses for the future”.
Recalling that “working together is crucial in the face of the rapidly growing wave of Ômicron”, they insisted on the importance of “equitable access to diagnoses, gene sequencing” as well as vaccines and treatments.
Biden alert
US President Joe Biden warned of a “winter of serious and deadly illnesses” for the unvaccinated. In many states, healthcare systems are under severe pressure due to the increase in Delta variant infections during the Thanksgiving holiday. Ômicron cases are also on the rise.
“For the unvaccinated, we are facing a winter of serious and deadly diseases. The only real protection is receiving the vaccine,” said Biden.
The Omicron variant was responsible for nearly 3% of covid-19 cases last Saturday (11) – compared to 0.4% the week before, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Based on the experience of other countries, the index is expected to continue to grow and could become dominant in the coming weeks.
“I suspect the numbers are going to skyrocket dramatically in the coming weeks,” said Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at New York University and Bellevue Hospital.
Céline expects the Ômicron variant wave to peak in January and fall during the month of February.
In a meeting with state leaders on Tuesday (14), the CDC presented two scenarios, based on models, of how the new variant could lead to infections in the coming weeks and months. Ômicron and Delta cases may peak in January.
For the expert, it is not clear which variant of SARS-CoV-2 (Delta or Ômicron) will dominate in the coming months or if they will coexist. Regardless, “we anticipate an increase in hospitalizations and the health system in the coming months.”
U.S
The United States has already surpassed 800,000 deaths from SARS-CoV-2.
The country was already facing a Delta wave, which began before the Thanksgiving holiday, and officials fear travel and meetings over Christmas and New Years could add explosive growth to an already tense situation.
Across the country, schools are registering an increase in cases and some are closing earlier or reducing in-person classes. In New York, Cornell University reported 903 cases among students in a week – many of them with the Ômicron variant and in people with the full vaccination.
Testes
In several states, hospitals are close to full capacity. “Health systems need a plan for the likely increase in hospitalizations in the coming weeks,” added Céline Gounder. The infectious disease specialist advocates that public health authorities increase testing and surveillance across the country.
Some of the American Rescue Plan funds can be used at the state and local levels to purchase tests, which Massachusetts and Colorado states are already doing. “With Ômicron, frequent testing can be more important than it was with previous variants,” said Céline.
“Ômicron has a shorter incubation period, two to three days. If we want to detect most of these infections and do something to fight the contagion, we have to do a test every day,” he said.
The expert also explained that between 15% and 30% of positive tests must be sequenced to understand which variant is spreading across the country. “We have dramatically increased the number of tests performed, but we are not where we need to be. Wastewater surveillance can also be a useful tool to contain what is to come and quickly.”
In the New York and New Jersey areas, for example, Ômicron is present in 13% of cases.
Biden’s national plan to deal with the Ômicron variant excludes home stay restrictions and requests. Most states saw their local health powers significantly restricted during the pandemic, making it more difficult to adopt emergency measures to delay the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
Intensifying vaccination, including the first dose and booster doses, will also be important to combat the current waves. Céliner argues that “this will require a planned campaign to educate the public about what is important – for example, vaccinating children”.
Improving ventilation and air filtration is also important, as is wearing quality masks.
The expert believes that it is too early to say whether Ômicron is more or less lethal than previous variants. “The virulence [capacidade de um microrganismo patogênico se multiplicar no organismo e provocar doença] it depends on the person’s age as well as other demographics, but age is probably the most important.”
Available evidence indicates that Ômicron is more transmissible and evasive of the immune system, making infection more likely among those who have been vaccinated or have recovered from the disease.
However, a panel of external CDC consultants recommended targeting mRNA vaccines for protection against covid-19 – that is, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines – in preference to Johnson & Johnson, due to clotting risks of the blood. The regulator has yet to approve this guidance.
By RTP – Lisbon
