A person performs a self-swab test for COVID-19 in New York.
A new study says that people with the omicron variant of Covid-19 have increased immune protection against delta.
The small study published by South African scientists this week states that omicron could displace delta.
The findings could have significant implications for nations such as the United States where omicron infections are rapidly increasing but the delta variant is still widespread.
The team of scientists, led by Khadija Khan at the Africa Health Research Institute, wrote in their findings that the results were consistent with Omicron displacing the Delta variant.
The incidence of Covid-19 severe disease would be reduced if omicron displaces delta and proves more mild than previous versions, according to the scientists.
Omicron was first identified by two countries.
Peer reviewed is when the study is reviewed by other people. Due to the urgent nature of the Pandemic, researchers have been publishing their findings before other experts in the field.
The 13 people who were studied had been exposed to the omicron variant. Three of the participants received two doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, while four received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The participants in the study who were exposed to omicron had a fourfold increase in protection against the delta variant. Participants showed a 14-fold increase in their ability to block omicron reinfection.
The scientists cautioned that it's not clear whether increased protection is due to omicron-induced antibodies, vaccination or immunity from a previous infection. People who were vaccinated showed stronger protection.
In the United States, omicron represented 42% of the cases, while delta represented 41%.
Hospitals in the U.S. experienced a surge in admissions during the fall due to the delta variant. The Health and Human Services Department says that more than 70,000 people are currently hospitalized with Covid, up 3% from the previous week.
The omicron variant is driving a surge in infections. The country reported an average of more than 237,000 daily new cases for the seven-day period ending Monday, an increase of more than 50% over the past week, according to a CNBC analysis.
People with omicron are more likely to develop mild illness than people with delta.
The U.K. Health Security Agency found that people with omicron are less likely to need hospital admission. The results are preliminary and highly uncertain due to the small number of omicron hospitalizations, the inability to measure all previous infections, and the fact that omicron has not spread widely among older and more vulnerable age groups.
Scientists in South Africa found that people with omicron are 70% less likely to develop severe disease. The study has limitations due to limited information on vaccination status and immunity from prior infections.
Even if omicron is less severe than delta, it could still overwhelm hospitals by spreading much faster.
The World Health Organization said omicron is spreading faster than any previous variant. A study from Hong Kong found that omicron replicates 70 times faster in the human airway than in the lungs.
