The OECD warns that in the worst scenario, "pockets of low vaccination end up as breeding grounds for deadlier strains of the virus". AFP/Christof Stache
JOHANNESBURG - The South African Medical Research Council is warning against reading too much into early Omicron reports.
It says early data is based on a very small number of patients.
READ: Concern over bed capacity as more babies test positive for COVID-19
The council is urging people to get vaccinated as this prevents severe disease and death.
"Vaccination is still our only serious protection against it and if we had a higher rate of vaccination then we would see even fewer admissions," he said.
"So I don't think we should for a moment think that our hospitals are not going to be overwhelmed, they will be, because remember in past waves people could not get a hospital bed and so if we have fewer admissions in this wave, I can tell you that those beds that become available are going to be rapidly taken up by people who could not get a hospital bed before. We should still prepare for a rough time in this fourth wave."
The Medical Research Council is warning against reading too much into early Omicron reports. It says early data is based on a very small number of patients. The council is urging people to get vaccinated as this prevents severe disease and death. #DStv403 #eNCA pic.twitter.com/s7NNFGBiXu
— eNCA (@eNCA) December 7, 2021
