COVID-19: How dangerous is the Omicron subvariant? See what WHO expert has to say

Omicron Subvariant News: The world has been going through the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 26, 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) designated 1.1.529 or the Omicron variant of COVID-19, a variant of concern. A sub-variant of the Omicron variant has been recently identified in Denmark.

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The emerging BA.2 form of the Omicron coronavirus variant does not seem to be any more severe than the original BA.1 form, an official of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, as per a Reuters report.

Dr. Boris Pavlin of the WHO's COVID-19 Response Team said in an online briefing that based on the data from Denmark, the first country where BA.2 overtook BA.1, there appears to be no difference in disease severity, although BA.2 has the potential to replace BA.1 globally.

However, people can be hopeful because Pavlin informed that looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking, any higher bumps in hospitalization than expected, is not being witnessed.

The sub-variant of Omicron is becoming dominant in Philippines, Nepal, Qatar, India and Denmark.

"Vaccination is profoundly protective against severe disease, including for Omicron. BA.2 is rapidly replacing BA.1. Its impact is unlikely to be substantial, although more data are needed," said Pavlin.

Speaking of the COVID-19 cases in India, the country recorded 1,61,386 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours. Also, 167.29 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.