BENGALURU: Even as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has flagged the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2 as a Variant of Concern (VoC), which poses a "very high" global risk, India's apex medical research body - the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - has stated that there could be a "mild breakthrough but severity is not expected."
Dr Nivedita Gupta, scientist F & in-charge (Virology Unit) Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Disease, ICMR told The New Indian Express while it is "early to say as yet (on Omicron) as lots needs to be studied for the variant, I don't see a reason for vaccines not to work.
"Omicron is still a SARS-CoV2 variant and most of us are vaccinated," she added.
Dr Gupta said that to the best of her "understanding, Omicron is not detected in India yet. As soon as the strain is detected it will immediately be declared on the INSACOG," she said.
She added that the safety protocols - of two shots of COVID19 vaccinations, wearing of mask and social distancing should strictly be followed as maximum precaution to keep the virus at bay.
"Tracing and testing will help in mapping the spread of the virus. Continuous whole-genome sequencing of a proportion of positive COVID19 samples collected from geographically well-distributed sites will give insights into the new variants," she added.
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