The new Omicron coronavirus variant could bring the world closer to the end of the pandemic, a health expert said on Tuesday.
However, Prof. Cyrille Cohen, an expert on immunology from Bar-Ilan University, said that there are still many questions surrounding the strain that needs to be answered.
"There should be an immune response against it that will be strong enough to protect us from other variants as well," he told Ynet. "On the other hand, it should be a variant whose risk of serious illness is low. The Omicron may fit these characteristics, but it takes some patience to know."
Cohen said that according to data coming from South Africa, where the strain was first detected, there is a lower rate of serious illness compared to the Delta variant, but that this information should be looked at "carefully".
"Firstly, when the Delta variant first appeared, we also said that it was no dangerous or at least less than the original strain and looked what happened," he said. "Secondly, most people in South Africa infected with Omicron are relatively young, a population that usually does not suffer from serious illness at a high rate. Thirdly, we need to take into account that the variant might mutate against, as has happened with Delta, and become more violent."
Cohen said that estimations showing that Omicron is able to on some level to bypass the vaccine's protection make it even more difficult to say whether it is the end of the pandemic.
He also said that it is an inevitability that every person in the world will eventually become exposed to coronavirus, which is the only way to reach a sufficient level of protection against it.
Cohen said that this reality further reinforces the vaccine's importance.
"What will make the difference between a serious and mild illness — is the vaccine," he said. "I remind you that most Omicron cases in Israel are mild, except in one case — an unvaccinated person."