Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The WHO weekly epidemiological bulletin notes that “as of 7 December 2021, the omicron option was confirmed in 57 states”. Its presence was reported from all six WHO regions. This was announced on Wednesday by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Experts drew attention to the fact that the number of detected cases of coronavirus infection is now rapidly growing in the countries of southern Africa. Although the "drivers" of this growth are not yet known to specialists, they consider it "probable" that the spread of "omicron" in this region, as well as the increased testing among the population for COVID after this strain was classified by WHO as a " options of concern” (VOC).

As the organization emphasized, "preliminary analyzes suggest that mutations present in the omicron variant can reduce the neutralizing activity of antibodies, which leads to a decrease in protection from natural immunity." The WHO believes that this may be an explanation for "why this option appears to be spreading rapidly among the population with high immunity, as is the case in South Africa."

According to WHO, more data is needed to judge the effectiveness of vaccines against the omicron strain. “It is necessary to obtain more data to assess whether the mutations in the omicron variant can lead to a decrease in the immune protection obtained from the vaccine,” the experts stated. More "data on the effectiveness of vaccines, including the use of additional doses" is also required, they said. It is emphasized that “WHO will continue to work with partners to monitor and evaluate these data as soon as they become available”.

The WHO drew attention to the evidence according to which "the omicron-variant has advantages in growth over other circulating variants." At the same time, experts "do not yet know whether this leads to an increase in infectiousness." There is no clarity among specialists about the severity of the course of the disease when infected with omicron. Referring to information about 212 cases of infection with this strain detected in 18 EU countries, experts noted that the disease is "asymptomatic or mild."