Covid-19: Will Omicron achieve collective immunity?

All infected, to be all protected? This is what hope some face the wave of contamination of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Will it therefore allow us to achieve collective immunity? Nearly 200,000 cases were positive every day last week, a record that is arguably doubled if you count the asymptomatic. For doctors, no health measure can stop this wave. “Containment would be derisory. As a result, we will all infect each other and we will see if this immunity is durable“, declares the infectious disease specialist Benjamin Davido.

The Omicron variant seems less virulent, but it is more contagious. This could therefore have a consequence on the number of hospitalizations over a short period with a risk of congestion, especially in critical care services. If herd immunity is achieved, then the virus will become a seasonal illness, like the flu. Faced with this risk, scientists recommend a booster dose every year.

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Article from FranceTVInfo

Modeling of the Institut Pasteur

Modeling of the Modeling Group of the ETE team (MIVEGEC Laboratory, CNRS, IRD, University of Montpellier)

Benjamin Davido is an infectious disease specialist and Covid-19 referent at Garches hospital (APHP)

Mircea Sofonea is an epidemiologist in the Infectious Diseases and Vector Diseases laboratory: Ecology, Genetics, Evolution and Control (Mivegec)