Omicron Scare: Pharma Major Moderna says its booster dose of Covid Vaccine effective against Variant
Bharat Biotech, an Indian pharma company, has already sent its intranasal vaccine for phase-3 approval.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai has imposed new restrictions on public gatherings for the new year by capping the occupancy of movie theatres and restaurants at 50% till 2nd January 2022.
Stressing on the need for “greater foresight, data analysis, faster decision-making, and strict and prompt preventive action at the local and district level”, Mr Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, wrote to the state ministers. “Omicron is at least 3 times more transmissible than Delta.
Hence, even greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making & strict & prompt containment action are required at the local and district level”, he wrote.
5,326 new corona infections have been confirmed within 24 hours in the country. As per the latest data released by the Union Health Department, 453 people died of Coronavirus across the country in the last 24 hours.
The Central Government notification
The Central Government notified the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that there is no such evidence that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. However, some of the mutations reported on the spike gene may reduce the effectiveness of existing vaccines.
The toll of infected patients increased to 202 on Tuesday morning, 174 till Monday. Delhi reports the king’s share of Omicron cases. After Maharashtra, the total number of infected in Delhi has also gone up to 54. Whereas, till Monday, 30 Omicron cases here. Sahil Thakur, who has now recovered from Omicron, was put on house arrest with four guards posted outside his house.
Thakur told NDTV that he didn’t get any of the known symptoms of Coronavirus, like sore throat, fever, etc. He had gone to Dubai on 20th November for some business matter. He was double vaccinated and tested negative in Dubai Airport. However, after returning to Delhi on 5th December, he tested positive with Omicron.
Maharashtra
31 Omicron infected were discharged from the hospital on Monday. So far, 54 people have been infected here, in which active cases have been reduced to 23 after 31 people got cured.
Because of the Omicron scare, the existing night curfew has been extended till 31st December in many cities of Gujarat. Gujarat CM took this decision to curb the celebrations of Christmas and New Year. The night curfew will be applicable from 1:00 am to 5:00 am.
People visiting India from abroad have become a cause of worry for the administration.
Coronavirus has been confirmed in six people who have returned from abroad in Indore. Chief Medical Health Officer Dr Bhure Singh says that everyone’s samples have been sent for genome sequencing.
Due to the Coronavirus, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has been forced to call off traditional Christmas celebrations at her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England.
She will be staying at Windsor Castle amid a coronavirus spike taking a personal decision on Monday.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace also scrapped plans to travel to Sandringham, where members of the Royal Family gather for church on Christmas morning.
The 95-year-old monarch has already called off an annual pre-Christmas lunch tradition for royal family members, as cases of the new coronavirus variant Omicron rise in the country.
More about Omicron
Omicron is spreading rapidly in the USA. So far, 73 per cent of the total samples sent for genome sequencing are Omicron infected.
It is a matter of concern that this figure has reached three to 73 per cent within just a week. Due to rising Omicron cases, Israel has put the USA and Canada on the ‘red list’ and appealed to its citizens not to travel to these two countries without any specific reason.
Meanwhile, South African scientists are researching a “highly plausible hypothesis” that the emergence of new branches of SARS-CoV-2 may be linked to uncured HIV (or other diseases).
Professor Linda-Gayle Bekker, Heads of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in Cape Town, said that a virus could not persist in an immune person for too long.
Bekker added that “In someone where immunity is suppressed, then we see virus persisting. And it […] replicates. And as it replicates, it undergoes potential mutations.”.
The WHO announced that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant and urged the general public to take necessary precautions.
