Omicron as severe as other COVID variants: large US study
(VOVWORLD) - The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus is as severe as previous variants, according to a preprint version of a large US study that counters assumptions in other studies that it was more transmissible but less severe.
 A woman takes a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test at a pop-up testing site as the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread in Manhattan, New York City, US, December 27, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS) |
The findings, which estimated Omicron's severity after accounting for the impact of vaccines, should reinforce the importance of inoculations and booster shots, experts said.
Vaccines helped keep hospitalizations and deaths relatively low during the Omicron surge compared with previous variants.
The study, which is undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio, was posted on Research Square on May 2.
The authors, from Massachusetts General Hospital, Minerva University and Harvard Medical School, declined to comment until peer review is completed.
"The risks of hospitalization and mortality were nearly identical" between the Omicron era and times in the past two years when different variants were dominant, the researchers said in their report.