A strong wave of coronavirus infections driven by the omicron variant could hasten the end of pandemic disruptions as it appears to cause less severe illness and provides protection against the delta variant, South Africa-based researchers said.
A laboratory study that used samples from 23 people infected with the omicron variant in November and December found that while those who previously caught the delta variant could contract omicron, those who get the omicron strain couldn’t be infected with delta, particularly if they have been vaccinated, the researchers said. Results among the unvaccinated were unclear, as was whether they had been previously infected.
While omicron is significantly more infectious than delta, hospital and mortality data in countries including South Africa — the first country to experience a wave of omicron infections — appears to show that it causes less severe disease.
World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan stressed that the study showed omicron gave protection against delta only in people who were vaccinated.
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“Infection is not a substitute for vaccination, as some are suggesting,” Swaminathan said in a tweet.
Omicron was also tested against 18 samples taken from 14 people previously infected with delta and showed “extensive escape” from antibodies, the researchers said.
