COVID Study: Omicron Less Deadly Than Delta

(RxWiki News) A new study is lending support to what people have been theorizing about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

This new research found that the Omicron variant was less likely than the Delta variant to lead to hospitalization or death.

This research, conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Kaiser Permanente health system and University of California at Berkeley, also found that those who did end up in the hospital with an Omicron infection were likely to have a shorter stay than those who went to the hospital with a Delta infection.

While Omicron cases continue to surge across the country, these findings may be welcome news to many. Still, due to the sheer infectiousness of Omicron and the number of cases it has caused, many hospitalizations and deaths are being tied to this fast-spreading variant. Omicron has also been found to be much more likely to bypass immune system protection from vaccination than previous variants.

This study looked at almost 70,000 patients in California. Those who were infected with the Omicron variant were 91 percent less likely to die than those who had Delta.

Those who had Omicron were also 74 percent less likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit. And those who did go to the hospital with an Omicron case had a hospital stay that was 70 percent shorter on average than those who went to the hospital for Delta.

Despite this news, the Omicron variant remains a serious health threat — especially to those who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Talk to your health care provider about how to keep yourself and your family safe from all variants of the coronavirus.

This study was published in the journal medRxiv.

The CDC funded this study. The study authors disclosed no potential conflicts of interest.