Vaccinated are easier with Omicron

At the end of December, the health authorities in Kosovo confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

This variant, described as disturbing by the World Health Organization, was first identified in South Africa in November and has since spread to hundreds of countries around the world, becoming dominant in some.

According to Ahmeti, an infectologist at the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo (UCCK), Omicron’s clinical manifestations are milder than those of Delta – so far, the dominant variant in Kosovo – but, he adds, Omicron is more transmissible.

“In the family circle when a member is affected, the virus is passed on to almost all other members,” he says.

“The forms of the disease are milder, pulmonary infections are rarer. “Also, there are rarer cases of those who need hospitalization and those who need support with oxygen or ventilated breathing”, says Ahmeti for Radio Free Europe.

He points out that hospitalized patients who have been vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine have shown a milder form of the disease than unvaccinated patients.

According to Ahmeti, the therapeutic treatment for patients with Omicron is the same as for previous cases.

Some of the medications required for coronavirus treatment are: paracetamol, favipiravir, fraxiparine, enoxaparin, remdesivir, lactoferrin and various vitamins, depending on the patient’s condition.

Within ten days: 1,429 new cases

Health authorities in Kosovo, from January 1 to January 10, have registered 1,429 new cases of coronavirus.

The figure is significantly higher compared to the previous ten days, respectively the period 21-31 December, when 219 cases of infected were registered.

But, despite the increase in cases, the number of patients admitted to hospitals is not high, says Albina Ponosheci-Bicaku, infectologist at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of UCCK.

Out of over 1,700 active cases of coronavirus, only 16 were receiving medical treatment in Kosovo public hospitals on 10 January.

The World Health Organization has said that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus does not appear to cause serious illness, compared to the Delta variant, but should not be categorized as “mild”.

Ponosheci-Bicaku says that the citizens of Kosovo should be careful in respecting the measures against coronavirus and be vaccinated.

“The Omicron variant that is circulating is spreading with great speed. Wearing a mask, physical distance, hygiene and vaccination of those who have not been vaccinated and taking the third dose for those who have received the first two doses, will help us as staff, but also patients not to manifest diseases of “, says Ponosheci-Bicaku for Radio Free Europe.

NIPHK: The epidemiological situation may worsen

The National Institute of Public Health in Kosovo (NIPHK), through a statement on the social network Facebook, warned on Monday that the epidemiological situation in Kosovo could worsen as a result of the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

“It is necessary the increased care of all, to strictly respect the physical distance, to use masks, to disinfect and ventilate the premises,” called the NIPHK.

NIPHK also said that vaccination is the best way to protect against the virus and reminded citizens that they can be immunized every day in all primary care institutions in municipalities.

According to data from the Ministry of Health in Kosovo, 49.2 percent of citizens have been vaccinated with the first dose of coronavirus vaccine, while 43.9 percent with the second dose.

Currently, in Kosovo, the third and booster dose of the vaccine is given to all those who have passed three months after receiving the second dose.

Israel, earlier this year, started giving the fourth dose of the vaccine to fight, as it said, the spread of the Omicron variant.

Germany said on Monday it was considering giving a fourth dose, while the United Kingdom said it did not consider it necessary.

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