Omicron variant threatens holiday season

Has the Omicron variant gone under the radar? Its circulation will be greatly reduced in France. According to the latest figures from Public Health France, there are only 347 cases of Omicron that have been detected and confirmed in France. But more and more PCR tests analyzed do not fall under the English variant or the delta variant, and could be cases of omicron. “The number of Omicron cases is doubling every day. Perhaps the Omicron wave is coming at its worst for us, at peak delta time”, according to a report by Florence Debar, a researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research.

So this variant will be more contagious. In England, Omicron became dominant, Especially in London. According to the first data from South Africa, the variant is no more dangerous than the others. But the population of South Africa is smaller than that of France, and scientists prefer not to take risks by drawing hasty conclusions. “There are very few antibodies that are able to neutralize the omicron”, testifies Olivier Schwartz, Director of the Virology and Immunology Unit at the Pasteur Institute.