WHO - mounting evidence that suggests that Omicron subvariants —BA.4 and BA.5— are infecting people who have been vaccinated.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1547984846059761670

"We need to be prepared for these Covid-19 waves — each new variant will be more transmissible and immune evasive. Higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalisations and sickness. All countries must have a data-driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations," said Swaminathan in a tweet on Thursday.

There is mounting evidence that suggests that Omicron subvariants —BA.4 and BA.5— are infecting people who have been vaccinated.

The WHO chief noted that the sub-variants of Omicron, like BA.4 and BA.5, continue to drive waves of cases, hospitalisation and death around the world.

Surveillance has also reduced significantly – including testing and sequencing, making it increasingly difficult to assess the impact of variants on transmission, disease characteristics, and the effectiveness of counter-measures.

He said, "The virus is running freely and countries are not effectively managing the disease burden based on their capacity, in terms of both hospitalisation for acute cases and the expanding number of people with post COVID-19 condition – often referred to as long-covid. New waves of the virus demonstrate again that the COVID-19 is nowhere near over. As the virus pushes at us, we must push back."

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