Researchers analyzed 56,000 Omicron and 269,000 Delta cases in England and concluded that people infected with the new variant had a 15-20% lower risk of hospitalization and a lower probability of hospitalization during that period. minus one night.
The study also emphasizes that those who have already been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus have a 50-60% lower risk of hospitalization than the rest of the population.
At the same time, “the risk of hospitalization is similar for the Omicron and Delga variants in people who have already been vaccinated with at least two doses of the vaccine,” the scientists report.
The data “reflects the reduced efficacy of vaccines against the Omicron variant compared to Delta,” Imperial College researchers said in a statement cited by EFE.
Despite these findings, the study warns that “the risk of hospitalization in vaccinated people remains significantly lower than that of unvaccinated people.”
“Our analysis shows a modest reduction in the risk of hospitalization associated with the Omicron variant compared to the delta variant,” said epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, one of the study authors.
However, for Neil Ferguson, these data are “offset” by a decrease in the effectiveness of vaccines against the new variant due to the high transmissibility of the virus.
“The risk of increased hospitalizations for medical services remains if the number of infections with Omicron continues to grow at the rates recorded in recent weeks,” he stressed.
Epidemiologist Azra Ghani has already noted that “while reducing the risk of hospitalization with the Omicron variant provides peace of mind, the risk of infection remains extremely high.”
“The booster dose continues to provide better protection against infection and hospitalization,” he said.
Another study by researchers from the Scottish universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde suggested that the risk of hospitalization could be reduced by two-thirds with the Omicron variant compared to the Delta variant.
This investigation was the result of an analysis of 23,840 cases of suspected COVID-19 in the micron variant, of which 15 were hospitalized, compared to 47 assessed with the Delta variant.
