Pandemic: care must be maintained with the Ômicron variant

The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, reaffirmed today (28) that the main weapon against covid-19 is vaccination. Earlier, the minister broadcast live on social media during a working meeting on the Ômicron variant of the new coronavirus.

According to Queiroga, the epidemiological scenario in Brazil is more tranquil due to the vaccination campaign. So far, 372 million doses have been distributed to the states, 308 million of which have already been applied to the population.

“I would like to reassure all Brazilians, because the care with this variant is the same care with the other variants. The main weapon we have to face these situations is our immunization campaign”, he said.

According to the Secretary of Health Surveillance, Arnaldo Medeiros, protective measures against covid-19 must be maintained. "It is extremely important that we maintain focus on the vaccination campaign and that we maintain the so-called non-pharmacological measures [use of masks], avoid public crowds, hand hygiene, alcohol gel and respiratory labeling", he said.

Last week, the emergence of a variant of the new coronavirus was confirmed in regions of Africa. Named Ômicron - a Greek letter corresponding to the letter "o" of the alphabet -, strain B.1.1.529 was identified in Botswana, a country neighboring South Africa, in mid-November.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the variant could become responsible for most new records of infection by the new coronavirus in South African provinces.

In Brazil, no case of Ômicron has yet been registered. As a precaution, starting tomorrow (29), the federal government decided to restrict the entry of passengers from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini (ex-Swaziland), Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia .

Text translated using artificial intelligence.