Deputy Head of NCDC: ‘Omicron COVID variant may start circulating in a month in Georgia’

The Deputy Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Paata Imnadze said the Omicron Covid variant may start circulating in Georgia in about a month.

Imnadze also said the booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine is about 75% effective against the Omicron variant, while scientists have not yet done research on Chinese vaccines.

Recent studies on COVID-19 vaccines were published yesterday which show that one dose of Pfizer and two doses of AstraZeneca have about 71% protection against Omicron variant, while three doses of Pfizer vaccine are about 75% effective against the new variant of COVID-19”, Imnadze said.

Head of NCDC Amiran Gamkrelidze said on December 12 that it is necessary to administer COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in order to prevent the spread of the new Omicron variant in the country.

The Omicron variant has not been detected in Georgia so far.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the Omicron variant is likely to spread more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. The CDC also says that ‘current vaccines are expected to protect against severe illness, hospitalisations, and deaths due to infection with the Omicron variant’.