Reinfection more likely with Omicron, expert says

The president of the National Vaccination Committee said Monday that anyone who gets ill with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is more likely to become re-infected than if they came down with one of the other variants.

Omicron, she said, has higher transmissibility and “increased potential of the virus for re-infections.”

“Natural defense from Alpha, Beta and Delta variants offers 90% protection against Omicron,” she said, adding that the likelihood of re-infection is higher with those that got ill with the Omicron variant as the body’s natural defense offers 60% protection.

New cases of the coronavirus jumped to 20,361 on Monday from 10,853 on Sunday, while deaths rose to 78 from 72 the day before. The number of patients on ventilators stood at 494, down from 499 on Sunday. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 2,194,453 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 24,836 fatalities.