Covid scientist are increasingly convinced the Omicron variant is acting as a natural vaccine for tens of millions of people around the world as most infected people have no or very mild symptoms, yet their bodies do produce full antibodies.
Many countries are currently seeing record numbers of infections, including the UK, US, most of Europe and Asia, but hospital admissions only show a modest or even no serious increase.
In South Africa, where Omicron was first detected in November, infection rates are dropping rapidly and most experts believe the Omicron wave has passed and other countries should expect the same cycle in the next few months.
The high level of contagiousness, paired with very mild symptoms, may make Omicron a blessing in disguise, some Covid scientists argue. In fact, some go as far by suggesting there may no need to get vaccinated anymore, just get Omicron.
Dr Vishal Sehgal, president of medical services at Portea MeMedical in India, told the Times of India that “Omicron acts as a natural vaccine and proves beneficial as it is less life-threatening.”
Tail end of the pandemic?
A number of experts around the world are convinced the world is currently seeing the tail of the pandemic, based on other virus outbreaks in history.
Dr Namita Jaggi of Artemis Hospitals in India told various media outlets that “pandemics have traditionally speaking petered out by having variants that are milder and less severe till they finally die out.”
“So no, Omicron is not a cause of concern, rather we must optimistically hope that we are moving towards the end of the pandemic,” Jaggi said.
Nicanor Austriaco, a Filipino-American molecular biologist, also believes Covid may slowly be killing itself off with the milder Omicron variant.
During a Town Hall meeting, last week, he said that those infected with Omicron will have antibodies that “will protect them against Delta, Gamma, Beta, Alpha and D614G” variants.
“This variant is the beginning of the end of the pandemic that has crippled the global community for two years already,” Austriaco told The PhilStar newspaper last week.
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