Geneva: WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan has urged people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already, saying that it appears that vaccines are still proving to be effective against Omicron, the ANI reported. She pointed out that though the number of cases are going up exponentially in many countries, severity of the disease has not surged to a new level.
“As expected, T cell immunity holding up better against #Omicron. This will protect us against severe disease. Please get vaccinated if you have not,” said Swaminathan in a tweet.
At a virtual WHO press briefing on Wednesday, Swaminathan said that vaccine effectiveness varies a bit between vaccines though the majority of allWHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines offer very high rates of protection against COVID, the report said.
She said that a vaccine’s effectiveness is also linked to biological factors. “It includes age, underlying illnesses and we know and proved it with all the variants that the older you are the more the underlying illnesses and co-morbidities the more vulnerable you are to get the disease,” she said.
As expected, T cell immunity holding up better against #Omicron. This will protect us against severe disease. Please get vaccinated if you haven't! https://t.co/PK2gmVHIGG
— Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) December 29, 2021
