RAWALPINDI: WHO’s kits (RT-PCR) has been provided to the District Health Authority to detect the new variant of coronavirus Omicron here on Tuesday.
Focal person Health Authority, Dr Waqar Ahmed told APP that the kits could detect the Omicron variant and other variants of COVID-19 reported so far.
He said that free of cost, Omicron tests would be available at Benazir Bhutto Hospital from Wednesday, while earlier, the authority had to send specimens to the National Institute of Health for diagnoses of the new variant of Omicron.
Dr Waqar informed that only four cases of the Omicron had been tested positive so far, while results of five cases were awaited, which would be confirmed on January 12.
The health officer said that timely and reliable testing was crucial to control and manage the emerging variant.
It is pertinent to mention here that WHO experts had warned Tuesday that repeating booster doses of the original Covid vaccines is not a viable strategy against emerging variants and called for new jabs that better protect against transmission.
An expert group created by the World Health Organization to assess the performance of Covid-19 vaccines said simply providing fresh jabs of existing Covid vaccines as new strains of the virus emerge was not the best way to fight the pandemic.
“A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable,” the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-Co-VAC) said in a statement.
It said preliminary data indicated the existing vaccines were less effective at preventing symptomatic Covid disease in people who have contracted the new Omicron variant, currently spreading like wildfire around the world.
But protection against severe disease, which is what the jabs were especially intended to do, “is more likely to be preserved”.
It recommended developing vaccines that not only protect people against falling seriously ill but could also better prevent infection and transmission in the first place.
“Covid-19 vaccines that have high impact on prevention of infection and transmission, in addition to the prevention of severe disease and death, are needed and should be developed,” TAG-Co-VAC said.
“Until such vaccines are available, and as the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolves, the composition of current Covid-19 vaccines may need to be updated, to ensure that (they) continue to provide WHO-recommended levels of protection against infection and disease by VOCs (variants of concern), including Omicron and future variants.”
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