Next Variant of COVID-19 Could be More Deadly, Warns WHO

As the world shuffle back to normalcy with the Omicron wave subsiding, experts warned that the next COVID-19 variant will be more transmissible, and perhaps, more deadly than its predecessors.

The World Health Organization (WHO) epidemiologist and technical lead on COVID-19, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove stressed that the pandemic is far from over and future variants will be in some way more virulent than the Omicron is now.

Dr. Van Kerkhove further said that the next variant of concern will be more fit and what it mean by that is it will be more transmissible because it will have to overtake what is currently circulating.

Dr. Kerkhove further warned that the next variant could more easily evade immunity, rendering vaccines less effective. However, she stressed on getting the jab as it protects against severe illness and death, as exhibited during the Omicron wave.

“We expect that with the right interventions, the circulation of Covid-19 will be low. But even within those circulations, there will be flare-ups among people who are not protected by the vaccine or those who have waning immunity,” added Dr Van Kerkhove.

The Delta variant that was first detected in India in October 2020 was labelled a variant of concern by the WHO. Delta was spreading 50 per cent faster than the Alpha variant, which was 50 per cent more contagious than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2, more commonly known as the coronavirus.