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Is Omicron worse than Delta?

Medically reviewed by Melisa Puckey, BPharm. Last updated on Nov 28, 2024.

Official Answer by Drugs.com

Does the Omicron Variant of COVID-19 worse than the Delta Variant?

At this stage it is too early to know if Omicron (GR/484A or B.1.1.529), the new variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, is more easily transmitted, causes more severe disease, or whether vaccine protect against illness, when compared to the Delta Variant.

What we do know is that on November 26, 2021 the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified Omicron as Variant of Concern (VOC). This means that they believe Omicron could be:

What is a Variant of a Virus?

What do we know about Omicron?

Will COVID-19 tests be able to detect the Omicron Variant?

Related questions

Covid-19 Tests with reduced ability to detect the Omicron variant of the the SARS-CoV-2 virus

Tide Laboratories DTPM COVID-19 RT-PCR Test

What more do we need to know about Omicron?

Researches will be looking at Omicron and comparing it against Delta to find out:

On the November 28, 2021 the WHO statement "Update on Omicron" confirmed that more information from studies is needed for the Omicron variant to better understand transmissibility, severity of illness, effectiveness of vaccines and tests, and current treatments.

Click here for information on: COVID-19: Treatments and Vaccines

References
  • Heavily mutated Omicron variant puts scientists on alert: [Accessed November 29, 2021] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03552-w
  • World Health Organisation: Tracking SARS-CoV-2 Variants. [Accessed November 29, 2021] https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/
  • GISAID: Community rapidly shares genomes of new variant of concern Omicron of the pandemic coronavirus: [Accessed November 29, 2021] https://www.gisaid.org/
  • GISAID Tracking of Variants VOC Omicron GR/484A (B.1.1.529) [Accessed November 30, 2021] https://www.gisaid.org/hcov19-variants/
  • Classification of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern: [Accessed November 30, 2021] https://www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2021-classification-of-omicron-(b.1.1.529)-sars-cov-2-variant-of-concern
  • World Health Organisation Statement: Update on Omicron [Accessed November 30, 2021] https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron
  • SARS-CoV-2 Viral Mutations: Impact on COVID-19 Tests [Accessed December 8, 2021] https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/sars-cov-2-viral-mutations-impact-covid-19-tests?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

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