CENSORED! - Is Africa demonstrating that Omicron circulates in highly vaccinated regions?
The WHO Coronavirus dashboard (April 1st 2022) makes stark viewing as the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be expanding in highly vaccinated regions of the world. Why is this pattern not also occurring in Africa?
Omicron has been described as the perfect mucosal vaccine for the pandemic and should have spread through the world within 3 months of being identified in December 2021. This SARS-COV2 variant is significantly more contagious than its predecessors and quarantines seem to be ineffective to stop the spread. China is finding out that even the strictest controls cannot prevent spread of the virus.
The perception was that within a few months, most of the world population would be exposed and thereby achieve herd immunity. This seems to be the case in Africa but not the rest of the world.
The main difference with Africa is that this population has not had equitable access to vaccines with most African countries having less than 40% vaccination rates. Could this be relevant to Omicron infections?
The evidence is suggestive that Omicron is circulating by infecting the population multiple times. This leads to a circular pattern of infection and an inability to achieve herd immunity in the population.
Why would this occur primarily in highly vaccinated regions?
If the immune response, even at mucosal level (nose and throat) is primed through vaccination to produce non-neutralising antibodies to the spike protein, this will not stop infection. Conversely, in the poorly vaccinated areas, infection will lead to the mucosal immune system creating multiple antibodies to different parts of the virus.
This is relevant for understanding the next phase of the pandemic. If natural immunity has been impacted by vaccination with a more focused antibody response (just to the spike protein), even those who previously were infected could be at risk of Omicron.
The pandemic is now evolving to become an epidemic in highly vaccinated parts of the world. It will require innovative strategies to get the world out of this rut.
Blocked on LinkedIn
BA.5 drove up hospital admissions in Portugal (which has high levels of vaccination but also high numbers of elderly people) but not in South Africa. This may be due to a younger demographic but also to prior immunity from high exposure to SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic.
Have just become a member today. Congratulations for the very important material you have here.