The world’s exam with the covid-19 epidemic still continues. The epidemic, which has turned into a global crisis for the last two years, has once again caused alarm in Europe. While the increase in the number of cases continued rapidly, the ‘vaccination obligation’ came to the fore. A variant detected in South Africa also worries experts. The variant, named “Omicron” by the World Health Organization, is frequently seen in cases in South Africa.
So why are experts worried? According to the data obtained, this new variant has an extremely high number of mutations. Therefore, experts cannot predict how successful current vaccines will be. The Omicron variant detected in South Africa can show resistance to existing vaccines thanks to its more than thirty-two mutations. A new statement came from BioNTech company on this subject.
If new vaccines are required, the first doses can be administered within 100 days:
BioNTech, which is the most preferred vaccine in Europe, stated in a joint statement with Pfizer that they will collect more data on the new variant in the next two weeks and will decide whether or not to make any changes to the existing vaccines based on these data. The company stated that if a change in vaccines is required, they can design a new vaccine “within 6 weeks” and the first doses will be ready to be administered within 100 days.
One of the questions that comes to mind with this news is: What is the difference between this variant in South Africa and the Delta variant? Delta is currently the most common variant in cases worldwide, as it is the most contagious variant of the virus. However, the new Omicron variant can easily bypass the immune system with its high number of mutations as well as being contagious. We expect new statements on this subject from experts in the next two weeks.
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