Variant Omicron Italy, Greco (Cts): “Figures say you shouldn’t worry us”

“To date, the data tell us that in Europe” the presence of the Omicron variant “is sporadic, and that in Italy there are a dozen isolations. And that it no longer seems to be transmissible as originally thought, and is certainly less pathogenic. , as announced yesterday by the WHO. Furthermore, the three doses of the anti-Covid vaccine, according to data provided by Pfizer, are protective “also against this variant. “All of this leads us today to a conclusion – which of course may change in the event of new data – which is that we don’t have to worry about Omicron.” So to Adnkronos Salute, epidemiologist Donato Greco, member of the Scientific Technical Committee (Cts), who adds: “Omicron is likely to spread in our country, but it is not, and in any case if it does we are protected with three doses of vaccine “. Greco, an epidemiologist with decades of experience behind him, on the front line starting from the cholera of ’73 in Naples to the current pandemic, explains: “I do not know of viruses without variants, and with regard to Covid, 1500 mutations have been identified in 2020 alone . It is clear that the single mutation is part of the life of the virus and does not bring important variations, and this only happens with the sum of the mutations. Omicron has 32 mutations in the Spike protein zone and for this reason it has been classified as ‘worrying’ by the WHO “. But the World Health Organization itself, “just yesterday reassured us”, concludes.