Candidate for German health minister: Omicron or "Christmas gift" to make the epidemic end faster

Original title: German health minister candidate: Omicron or "Christmas gift" to make the epidemic end faster
(Observer News) when many countries around the world are worried about the "Omicron" mutant strain and urgently upgrade border control, a German epidemiologist put forward a different view, saying that it may be a "Christmas gift" and may make the epidemic end faster.

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On the 24th local time, Olaf Scholz, the candidate for Chancellor of the German Social Democratic Party, announced that an agreement had been officially reached on the formation of a joint cabinet. His party would form an alliance with the Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party for the first time at the federal level to form a new ruling coalition.
According to the London flag evening news on November 29, Karl Lauterbach, a health and epidemic prevention expert of the Social Democratic Party, is running for the next health minister.
He commented on "Omicron" and said that if the symptoms caused by the new variant virus are mild, it may be positive.
Lautbach believes that "Omicron" contains a large number of mutations, and the number of mutations is twice that of "delta" virus, which means that it is more infectious and less serious, which is consistent with the evolutionary mode of most respiratory viruses.
But he also reminded that in South Africa, only 6% of the population over 65 years old. Germany is one of the "oldest" countries in Europe, and many people suffer from chronic diseases.

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The article mentioned that South African experts said that the symptoms caused by "Omicron" were lighter than the previous variants. A South African doctor said that the symptoms caused by "Omicron" so far seem mild, including dry cough, fever and night sweats.
For example, Angelique Coetzee, a South African doctor and director of the South African Medical Association who claimed to be the first to warn about the new variant strain, said that the symptoms of cases infected with the strain were "unusual but mild". According to the doctor, the typical symptom of "Omicron" patients is "extreme fatigue", but there is no loss of taste or smell.
In addition, Salim abdool Karim, an infectious disease expert in South Africa, said that the existing new crown vaccine should be "very effective" for "Omicron".
As the chief adviser of the South African government during the first wave of the epidemic and a professor at KwaZulu Natal University in South Africa and Columbia University in the United States, Karim believes that the vaccine can prevent hospitalization and severe illness, and there is no "danger signal" at present.
He added that it was "too early" to talk about whether "Omicron" would lead to more serious clinical symptoms than previous variants.
However, St é phane Bancel, chief executive of Modena, said on the effectiveness of the vaccine that the existing vaccine is unlikely to be as effective for "Omicron" as it is for Delta, and data are still needed.
On November 28 local time, who issued the latest "technical briefing" to members, which assessed the global overall risk of the new crown variant of "Omicron" as "very high".
Who said that although there are still many uncertainties in the infectivity, clinical manifestations and pathogenicity of the "Omicron" mutant, in view of the potential immune escape potential and transmission advantages of the mutant, there may be a surge of confirmed cases and serious consequences in the future.
Therefore, who urges members to strengthen testing and sequencing and timely report relevant infection cases and their proportion in sequencing samples. Countries should also improve vaccination coverage as soon as possible, take epidemic prevention measures, and adopt a risk-based approach to adjust international travel measures in a timely manner.