the spread of COVID-19 is not seasonal – Kommersant
The World Health Organization (WHO) said strains of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, defying seasonal fluctuations. The organization noted a downward trend in hospitalizations, as well as the high effectiveness of vaccines in combating severe forms of the disease, which has persisted for several months.
WHO issued a press release following the next meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGEI), where indicatedthat sublineages of the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 continue to spread throughout the world without noticeable seasonality. At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of cases of infection, hospitalizations and deaths from the disease.
WHO also says that several COVID-19 vaccines have been updated to take into account the active subvariants of the virus JN.1 and KP.2. mRNA and protein-based vaccines remain the most common, although availability and demand remain low, especially in low- and middle-income countries. “The effectiveness of vaccines against severe forms of the disease continues to be high and has remained relatively stable for several months,” the organization added.
A state of emergency due to the spread of COVID-19 existed in the global health system from the end of January 2020 to May 5, 2023. According to WHO data as of September 15, 2024, there were 776,281,230 cases and 7,065,880 deaths reported worldwide.
In September, Rospotrebnadzor warned about strains with specific mutations in the spike protein. This allows the virus to evade the immune response while still being able to effectively infect cells. The department reported that in the last two to three weeks the proportion of circulating variants of these strains has increased 2.5 times in the country. According to the operational headquarters, since the beginning of the month, the incidence of Covid has increased by 17%.
Read more about this in the Kommersant article. “Coronavirus reminded itself”
