THE DEPARTMENT of Health appeals to everyone to vaccinate and get boosters as it is in discussions with scientists to gather more information on the highly transmissible XBB.1.5 Covid-19 variant.
The variant which is nicknamed “kraken” by scientists is spreading quickly in the US. The Department of Health released a statement on its social media platforms on Saturday.
Six days ago the DOH stated that it was closely monitoring the Covid-19 situation in China and other parts of the world, and would issue an alert if the country needed to take extra precautions. The department stated that there was no need for the public to panic. It urged people to vaccinate and get booster shots to enhance their immunity against variants and sub-variants of the pandemic.
In a social media post the department said: “The department has been alerted about this highly transmissible XBB.1.5 variant and is currently in discussions with the scientists to gather more information including its transmissibility and severity. Thus, an official communication will be made in due course.”
Moreover, it urged the public to vaccinate, get boosters, wear masks and keep their distance and avoid overcrowded places and wash hands. At the beginning of the month the department said people should not panic as it was monitoring the situation in other parts of the world.
The head of a gene-sequencing institute at the University of Stellenbosch – Professor Tulio de Oliveira explained in a Twitter post, that he did not expect a big wave of infections with hospitalisation in the country due to high population immunity and previous waves of Omicron Lineages. Furthermore, the globally acclaimed bioinformatics scientist, who is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said the “Kraken” is still Omicron and anyone who was worried should get a booster.
“So for those that are rather safe than sorry: just get your bivalent booster, and that’s it. Moreover, it is also expected that the growth rate advantage of XBB.1.5 will decline over time as more people get infected and the pool of susceptible shrinks,” said De Oliveira.
Image (Are we going that route again? Masked, Dep Minister of Health Dr Sibongiseni Dlomo and team are meeting with scientists following reports of highly transmissible XBB.1.5 Covid-19 variant).
