Doctor Adrian Marinescu, medical director of the Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases in Bucharest, recommends people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, even if a reformulated vaccine against the Omicron variant is not available yet. The existing vaccines offer protection against severe forms of infections, he said.

"It is not too late, and it should definitely be done. And there are three things to consider: first, we don't have an updated vaccine available, it doesn't exist yet, it will probably be a few months before we have it; secondly, the available scientific data says the booster shot gives an immune response that will still be well potentiated; and the third and probably most important point is that it doesn't matter if I get infected or can transmit the virus, what matters is that when I get the infection, I have a high probability of not developing a life-threatening form," doctor Marinescu told News.ro.

He also believes that we'll enter a new chapter of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, meaning we'll move to a phase of coexisting with the virus.

"In terms of the pandemic, 2022 must be a year of balance, of transition to the stage of coexistence. […] The important thing is not that new viral variants appear, but that, indeed, if we talk about the softening of the virus, things are going well, and we are doing several things at the same time: we get immunity worldwide, through vaccination, through disease, and the virus also has a natural evolution and obviously at some point it also starts to decrease in intensity, become less aggressive," the doctor explained.

Referring to the fact that Romania has confirmed the first cases of the Omicron variant, Adrian Marinescu said that there's no reason to panic but continue to respect the sanitary norms.

"It's obvious that, after two years of pandemic, when a viral variant that is easily transmitted appears, it also reaches Romania, it is only a matter of time," he said, adding that this variant "will most probably spread everywhere."

"Looking at the half-full part of the glass, according to data so far, it seems that the new variant may cause milder illness," Marinescu also said. However, according to him, this doesn't mean that severe forms of infection are entirely ruled out.

Romania confirmed the first two cases of the Omicron variant on December 4, at two Romanians who returned from South Africa at the end of November. Thus, the authorities decided to tighten entry requirements for travellers coming to Romania.

newsroom@romania-insider.com

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