Chinese Expert Says COVID-19 Vaccination Can Overcome Omicron

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JAKARTA - The leading respiratory expert in China, Prof. Zhong Nanshan, believes that the COVID-19 vaccine currently on the market is still capable of overcoming the Omicron variant.

Vaccination is, of course, still an effective way for this variant of the virus, said Zhong, as quoted by Antara, Saturday.

Although he did not get much information, he reminded the global community to be aware of the risks of the Omicron variant.

The new variant is a challenge in its efforts to prevent and control the pandemic because the transmission is also massive, as stated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Zhong said that vaccination in his country has reached 76.8 percent of the population.

He considered this achievement to be good in meeting the vaccination target of 80 percent of the population in order to meet community immunity by the end of the year, Zhong was quoted as saying by Chinese media.

The new variant, named Omicron by WHO, was first discovered in South Africa.

Several countries in Europe, such as Germany, Italy and the UK have suspended flights from South Africa.

Israel and Hong Kong have also identified several cases caused by the new variant.