The Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus will spread rapidly in India, according to a forecast by Juliet Pulliam, director of the South African DSI-NSF Centre for Excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis.
Pulliam told The Economic Times in an interview that it would be wise to prepare for a worst-case scenario in terms of hospital planning.
The virus is infecting people who had a prior infection at a much higher rate than previous variants we have seen. Preliminary reports suggest that it is also causing an increase in vaccine breakthrough infections.
"Given what has been seen in South Africa is now being seen in other parts of the world, I expect the variant will spread very rapidly in India," she said.
To a question on booster or additional doses, she replied, "This variant spreads incredibly quickly, and I don't think that waiting to take important decisions makes sense."
There appears to be an increased risk of breakthrough infections with this variant; however, it is too early to tell whether those infections are likely to lead to severe disease, she noted.
ALSO READ | Omicron epicentre data gives reason for hope
UK health secretary Sajid Javid has said “we’ve got to act early” over the Omicron variant because of the threat of exponential growth, despite a low level of hospitalisations and no reported deaths in the UK yet involving the new variant.
Meanwhile, British prime minister Boris Johnson is gambling on an unprecedented ramping up of vaccinations, rolling out 1m booster jabs a day to stem an incoming “tidal wave of Omicron” and avoid imposing further restrictions.
Announcing the booster offensive, Johnson said two doses of vaccine were not enough, but scientists were confident that three would make a huge difference.