“Omicron is going to be the variant that will supplant Delta in a few weeks across Europe and probably quickly around the world”, assured Monday, December 13 on franceinfo theepidemiologist Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, while the first person infected with Omicron died in the United Kingdom.
franceinfo: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks of a “tidal wave” when referring to the Omicron variant. Is this the right expression?
Antoine Flahault : I don’t know if that’s the right expression, but the British are now facing an explosion in the number of cases of this new Omicron variant. You should know that the British sequence their viruses a lot, so they are much better informed than many countries in continental Europe, in particular France which sequences less than the British Isles. So, they see a very rapid increase in the proportion of the Omicron variant among the viruses identified.
Is the situation the same in France?
It is possible that France is a bit out of time. But in a few weeks it will be the same. We should certainly not anticipate that it will be very different. For the Delta variant, the British Isles had probably received from India, with which they have a historical relationship, more carriers of this variant. Today, we see two countries that sequence a lot and report a lot of cases: these are Denmark and the United Kingdom. And these two countries are experiencing a very rapid outbreak of this variant, which is taking all the place. He wins international tournaments, so to speak. And most likely, Omicron is going to be the variant that will supplant Delta in a few weeks across Europe, and probably quickly around the world.
Do vaccines protect well against this Omicron variant?
Yes, as long as it is complete. This is the very good news. A complete vaccination schedule against the coronavirus, these are the three doses. You have to consider that it is like polio, for which you also need three doses. For the coronavirus, now we know that three doses are needed and that they can be very effective against all the variants, Delta, Alpha and Omicron. There is at least 75% efficacy restored with the third dose against this Omicron variant, according to the most recent data available. Omicron is much more transmissible, which is why it is spreading like wildfire in the territory of the United Kingdom. It is also thought to be less virulent, but we do not know by how much. It is believed that it escapes the effectiveness of incomplete vaccination, that is, two doses. But on the other hand, we know today that it is quite sensitive to a vaccine completely carried out until the third dose.
Should we fear other variants?
Yes, there will be other variants. We now know that a variant makes one or two waves. We had two waves of Delta variant, two waves of Alpha variant. So we will undoubtedly have a wave of this Omicron variant, maybe a second. And then there will undoubtedly come, unfortunately, still new variants. So, we will have to learn to fight against these viruses in the most intelligent way possible. The vaccine was already a first form of intelligence. But there is also the ventilation, the wearing of the mask … All this will help us. Ventilate your enclosed spaces. It is inside houses, bars, restaurants, in these places, that we catch this damn coronavirus. And I believe that today we know better and better how to fight against it.