How severe in the COVID death rate since Omicron was detected? 

Noting the severity of the disease, WHO’s Abdi Mahamud said, in the span of 24 hours (sometime last week), 3,400 people had died and someone smarter than I made a comparison, saying that the Boeing 737 Max, two of them crashed in 2018-19, 346 people died.

So, if you take the number of just 24 hours in the US, that’s 18 Boeing 737s crashing every day, he noted.

So, while everyone was saying Omicron is milder, I think we missed the point that half a million people have died since this was detected,” he said and further added, “And, in the age of effective vaccine, half a million people dying is really something.”

At which stage of this pandemic are we in?

Noting that it is a very dynamic situation globally, Maria Van Kerkhove said, “The way that Omicron has replaced Delta around the world so quickly, the sharp peaks that we’ve seen, we literally have had to redraw the scale of the epidemic curve that we have been using.”

We are still in the middle of the pandemic, and hopefully moving towards the end, she noted. 

Many countries have not passed their peak of Omicron yet, so while some countries are seeing a decline in cases in Omicron, others have not yet reached that peak, so we will continue to see a surge in cases.

The more concerning thing for me, is the number of deaths that are increasing for the fifth week in a row, half a million people that we know about have died, she further adds. 

Can vaccines and boosters help in reducing the severity of the infection?

There is a very significant difference in individuals who are vaccinated with one dose, two doses and some people have had three doses. “There is a significant reduction of hospitalisations and deaths among those who are vaccinated.”

 “This is from Omicron, from other Variants of Concern, and I think that’s one of the biggest factors that is really, really critical that people hear out there,” Van Kerkhove said adding, so when its your turn get vaccinated and boosted.