Virologist Drenthe: British Omicron research results premature

Can the Netherlands enter Christmas with a calm feeling, that is the question for the virologist. “In principle, this is good news, but we will have to wait and see. There are a relatively large number of young people in that British study. It remains to be seen how it plays out if this variant ends up also among the elderly.”

In addition, there are already many in the UK boost. Nesters believes that “if the elderly are still at risk, it is important that the promotion campaign in the Netherlands be completed as quickly as possible, because they face the greatest risks”.

Omikron is now doing well in the Netherlands. “Every two days, the number of Omicron infections doubles in the Netherlands,” says the virologist. This means that many people are now getting infected. “Although the chance of people being hospitalized is lower, because of the high numbers that are still infected, we still had problems here and there.”

“Keep upping”

So the outbreak management team advises not to relax. “It’s already too early,” Nesters wholeheartedly agrees.

However, young adults appear to be less ill than the Omicron variant. But the situation with the elderly is still unknown. “We don’t know. I would definitely recommend a boost at this point.”

5G: five times the common sense

According to Nesters, everything stands or falls with people’s behavior. “We will definitely get out of lockdown and this pandemic one day, but it’s also about the idea of ​​5G: Use common sense five times. A lot of people go to Austria to ski, for example. Austria is trying to ban winter sports enthusiasts from other countries. Omicron, but this is a lost cause.”

English researchers still keep their heads held high. More research is needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn. Nesters also knows that: “We shouldn’t look at it too favorably. It’s premature. The research group must first be larger.”