Luke O’Neill on Vaccinating Children, the Severity of Omicron and a possible new Variant

<h2>Vaccinating Children in Ireland</h2> Professor Luke O’Neill says scientists are expecting that COVID-19 case numbers will start falling later this month as Omicron “runs out of road”.   The Trinity College immunologist also says the evidence is growing stronger every day that the variant causes less severe disease than previous strains.   COVID-19 numbers remain at record high levels in Ireland, with around 20,000 cases being reported daily for over a week now.   There’s also concern that many cases aren’t being detected in the community, with testing positivity still above 50% some days.   Professor O’Neill told The Pat Kenny Show that some estimates suggest as much as 40% of the world’s population will be infected with the new strain.   He observed: “The hope is it will protect against reinfection and stop severe disease.   “Eventually, there will be no point in counting cases, because it’s so widespread – the number of cases isn’t so informative in that situation.” While transmission continues at a high level, Professor O’Neill says evidence has also “grown and grown” that Omicron is causing milder illness in individuals than previous strains.   He observed: “All over the world, everybody is reporting the same thing – you get infected and it’s a mild disease, and you don’t end up in the ICU.   Credit to : Newstalk

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