Omicron, less dangerous or too early to judge?
COVID-19 broke out from Wuhan, China in 2020 and the world has had to contend with the century’s greatest public health challenge.
Research has been endless, discoveries have been ceaseless and new, albeit uncensored promulgation have been spurious. Every country has had to battle its foremost internal problem – fake news. The coronavirus pandemic has come in different waves, powered by different variants. From Alpha to Beta, Gamma, Delta and now Omicron variants, the disease has presented itself in different lights.
Omicron, the variant reported by South African researchers in November has seen countries report heavy number of infections. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country has recorded a 500% increase in the number of cases in the last two weeks, and its Centre for Disease Control says it’s fuelled by the Delta and Omicron variants.
The first wave of the pandemic led to many deaths and hospitalizations. It affected mostly the aged and ravaged the world, particularly Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States. Africa, which foreign researchers had predicted will suffer heavy losses due to its poor health systems had, compared to these countries, a lighter caseload.
In the second wave, there were less hospitalizations, the response was less intensive but more effective and nations started to lift their respective travel restrictions and bans. Many countries had begun to understand the epidemiology of the disease better and worked to battle it headlong.
Vaccines become more available, except in Africa, where the acquisition of vaccines is expensive and distribution has been inequitable. Less than 6% of Africa’s population have so far been vaccinated.
The third wave was powered by the Delta variant and has been reported to be milder than the variants that led to the first two waves. In countries like India, which reported a heavy rate of infections during its second wave, the third wave is yet to begin and researchers have predicted it won’t happen until February 2022 and Omicron hasn’t spread yet.
Some African countries have had little to no infections while countries like South Africa and Nigeria may have had up to four waves of the disease. There has, however, been a milder outset of the disease in virtually every new wave, Omicron being the latest.
What We Know About The Fourth Wave
South African researchers and foreign experts have said the fourth wave may be a short wave, and with milder incidences. Most people infected by the Omicron variant haven’t shown worrisome signs beyond normal respiratory challenges.
The disease may have peaked already in South Africa but it is falling now, with lower incidences reported in the last six days. In Gauteng Province, which was initially heavily affected, there has been a reduction in the number of cases already, and the majority of the infected people didn’t need intensive care.
Its short length has also given a glimmer of hope and reduced tension across the world about the nature of the variant, despite its high rate of transmission. Of the cases reported in South Africa, 95% are of the Omicron variant and other countries have also reported as high as 75% to 90% presence in the cases reported.
Some scientists have however cautioned that the situation in South Africa is not cosmopolitan as different nations have their demographics which may make the disease appear in other forms there.
Others also said the reduction in the number of cases may be a result of reduced testing due to the holiday season. However, in corroboration of the milder nature of the disease, most nations have reported less hospitalisation and less intensive care. But it may be too early to judge – jubilate or panic as diseases never read books.
Africa, J&J Vaccines And The ‘Condemned’ US CDC Position
Vaccine-hesitancy has been a problem in Africa and it dates back in time. While nations and scientists have pushed to convince their populace that the vaccination programmes for COVID-19 are in their best interests, they suffered a setback when the United States issued a statement relegating the efficaciousness of the vaccine most available on Africa – the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The United States’ Centre for Disease Control issued a statement citing its “clinical preference” for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines over J&J.
J & J is widely used in Africa because of its single-dose nature and doesn’t require ultra-cold storage. The US CDC said the J & J vaccine may rarely lead to blood clots and thrombosis. The CDC however issued a plea saying it’s better to be vaccinated than not, but had given enough premise for rejection for as many Africans who have doubts about getting vaccinated.
Comments like “you are poisoning us,” “We don’t want to take this,” and “We are vaccinated with second-hand vaccines and should not be vaccinated with J & J.” “You should only get Pfizer” have been dubbed common in some parts of Africa, and have scared people from taking the J & J vaccine.
Experts have also added that thrombosis is more common in patients with COVID-19 than in patients vaccinated and it may only be found between 1 in 500,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 cases which means it has a low possibility.
They blamed the US CDC for the careless statement saying the situation and realities are different in Africa, where cold storage is not readily available for the mentioned vaccines and many people can’t take multiple vaccines.