If you are vaccinated with both doses, youstill need to be careful from the new variant named 'omicron'. The researchersare still doing research to find out about the transmissibility of thisvariant. The new variant of coronavirus has already been affected the peoplewho were vaccinated with both doses.
This variant of coronavirus has around 50mutations which are comparatively higher than the earlier variants, namely, Epsilon,Alfa, Gamma, and Delta.
The new variant was found in South Africa andnow it has been reported in around 14 countries of the world. To restrict orcontrol the spread of this new variant, many countries have introducedguidelines over international travel. The current observations show that peopleare facing symptoms such as tiredness, headaches, body pains, irritation in thethroat, and coughing, but no change in sense of smell or taste.
"No case of COVID-19 variant Omicron hasbeen reported in India so far," Mr Mandaviya said in the Rajya Sabha.He added further, "We are immediately checking suspicious cases andconducting genome sequencing. We learnt a lot during the pandemic...Today, wehave a lot of resources and laboratories. We can manage any situation."
Meanwhile, the Centre’s ‘Har Ghar Dastak’door-to-door vaccination campaign has been extended and will continue untilDecember 31. On the other hand, Japan has confirmed its first case of the newomicron COVID-19 variant, a visitor who recently arrived from Namibia, anofficial said.
GISAID data as of 29 November 2021 statesthat there is a total of 198 cases of omicron including 114 from South Africa.After the identification of the variant, several countries have banned travellers from African countries. The United Nations, Japan, Canada, theEuropean Union, Israel, Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia,Indonesia, Morocco, and New Zealand have imposed travel restrictions.
Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chair of the SouthAfrican Medical Association, said that symptoms of the variant are ‘extremelymild’.
"Researchers in South Africa and aroundthe world are conducting studies to better understand many aspects of Omicronand will continue to share the findings of these studies as they becomeavailable," said WHO.