The Omicron strain of COVID-19 is "practically unstoppable,'' a top Indian epidemiologist, Jaiprakash Muliyil, who chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research, APA reports citing TASS.
"We are dealing with quite a different virus. It's much milder than Delta [strain], as you all know, not only that, it is practically unstoppable,'' Muliyil said.
According to the expert, booster COVID-19 shots launched in India won't stop the rapid spread of the virus. ''It makes no difference. The infection will occur. It has occurred all over the world regardless of this,'' he said.
The epidemiologist also stressed that despite the threat that Omicron could spread across the globe, the expert stressed that COVID-19 is "not a frightening disease anymore" as the new strain is milder and is leading to much less hospitalization. "It's a disease we can deal with," he added.
India has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases, with 194,720 new infections registered over the past day, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. On December 26, 2021, when the number of COVID-19 cases started growing, as many as 6,987 new infections were registered. Over 4,800 of those infected were officially diagnosed with the Omicron variant, but not in all cases the samples were sent for genome sequencing.
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