No Omicron cases in Singapore so far, but 'matter of time' before variant arrives: Gan Kim Yong

Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical providers at MOH, informed reporters: "We have a lot to be taught concerning the Omicron variant, whether or not it is more transmissible or not stays to be seen."But irrespective of whether the variant leads to more severe infection or not, our current public health protocols and plans should be able to deal with the prospect of this infection arising in our shores."Singapore's extremely vaccinated inhabitants, mixed with the continued booster programme, would have some safety in opposition to this new variant, the ministry added.Early knowledge means that present vaccines are efficient in opposition to extreme illness and dying, it famous. "However, more studies are needed to understand the actual impact of this variant on our existing countermeasures, including vaccines and treatments," it stated.Mr Ong stated docs from South Africa have noticed that amongst the Omicron cases with extreme signs, 65 per cent are unvaccinated and the remaining 35 per cent are partially vaccinated.“These are very brief, very early data, but it suggests that the vaccine could still be effective and underscores the importance of vaccines,” he stated.“If anything, it is a much more valuable insurance against a big unknown confronting the world now,” Mr Ong stated, whereas stressing that Singapore will push forward with vaccination.“This is absolutely the wrong time to argue that because there are new variants, let's not vaccinate and wait for a new vaccine,” he added. “Remember when we are faced with the unknown, we buy insurance. The insurance is now the existing vaccines.”The minister additionally in contrast the scenario to a sport of snakes and ladders. If the Omicron variant is more infectious or dangerous and vaccines don't work properly in opposition to it, Singapore would have landed on a “snake”. “We will go down and this will set us back a long way,” he stated.But if the brand new variant seems to be more infectious but milder, “a less harmful virus” could dominate over the Delta variant which might be seen as “a positive development”.