Chief physician Preben Aavitsland at the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) believes it is only a matter of time before the new corona variant omicron comes to Norway.
The FHI presented a risk report on the omicron corona variant on Sunday morning.
“The risk report says that the virus will come to Norway, but we do not know when,” he told TV 2.
Aavitsland emphasized that more will be known in one to two weeks.
When the variant arrives in Norway, he believes that it will be important to offset the disease burden with measures. Therefore, it is important to see how the virus will behave in a country like Norway, which has many vaccinated people.
Finding a good balance
“We must weigh the burden of the measures against the burden of disease and find a good balance, so we do not get too much disease, while we do not lock down the whole society,” he said.
Aavitsland says that the vaccines we have now might have to be adapted more in the future but that they are good enough now.
“We do not know how well the vaccine works against the new variant, but we reckon that it is good enough.”
He emphasizes that it takes a lot for new varieties to completely remove the protection the vaccine provides against serious illness. He notes that it is now important that people get the vaccine.
“I do not want to scare people, but I do not want to downplay it (i.e., the variant) either,” Aavitsland said.
Patients infected with omicron experience symptoms such as fatigue and otherwise general pain in the body.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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