Being in the middle of yet another COVID-19 wave, the Chamber organized a Connect with AmCham webinar on the COVID-19 virus evolution, its spread and the status of new Omicron-specific vaccine.

Our invited experts experts were epidemiologist Nikita Trojanskis and medical expert from Pfizer Aija Griskevica, Medical Manager Vaccines/Hospital.

According to Nikita Trojanskis, Omicron has a shortest serial intervals and it is the most rapidly spreading virus. He explained that different cities in Latvia have different spreading of variants, for example, in Daugavpils they have half of Omicron pateints and the other half still have Delta.

Aija Griskevica pointed out that Omicron still causes a very high risk globally, even though it is less severe. Vaccination is profoundly protective against severe diseases. 

She outlined three potential scenarious of the current virus evolution:

1) It remains highly contagious but causes mild illness in the majority cases.
2) The desease presents itself as recurring epidemics when the conditions of transmission are favorable, similar to seasional influenza.
3) A new variant emerges evading acquired immunity and resulting in a larger number of cases. The situation is very similar to what was experienced at the beginning of 2020 in many regions of the world.

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