The Ministry of Health has updated the recommendations for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, adding information about the omicron strain

The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has updated interim recommendations on the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, adding information about the omicron strain.

In particular, the document states that the omicron, like the delta-strain, carries mutations in its genome that increase the infectivity of the virus and reduce the “recognition of viral antigens by post-infectious and post-vaccination antibodies”.

In addition, it is emphasized that the omicron strain has the highest contagiousness among all SARS-CoV-2 variants. “

The Ministry of Health also expanded the “Etiotropic Treatment” section on the antiviral treatment of COVID-19, adding information on the drugs molnupiravir, Mir-19, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. The recommendations for the prevention of coronavirus include a vaccine for adolescents over 12 years of age “Sputnik M”.

On November 24 this year, South Africa officially announced that a new strain of coronavirus was discovered in the country, which was later named omicron. Two days later, WHO convened an extraordinary meeting on this matter. On December 8, four laboratories at once confirmed the worst fears of experts: “omicron” learned to get away, if not from all, then from a significant part of the antibodies developed after vaccination or a disease caused by previous variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Molecular biologist and science journalist, author of the book about coronavirus “The virus that broke the planet” Irina Yakutenko toldwhat does this data mean, whether a new pandemic awaits us or, as some hope, the omicron will prove to be a milder strain than its predecessors.