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If you are wondering whether you have contracted the Omicron variant of Covid-19, just know that the Flu doing rounds might be one indicator, according to a vaccine specialist.
Dr Moses N Mwangi outlines prevalent symptoms of Omicron variant as including loose stool, blocked nose, scratchy throat, running nose, body aches, extreme fatigue and a dry cough.
“It is what people are referring to the bad homa (common cold) doing rounds,” he says. This variant is highly contagious, if one person gets it in the household you will all get it. It is hitting the unvaccinated really hard."
To manage the condition Dr Mwangi advices “steaming with eucalyptus, vitamin C, antihistamines, hydration, and rest are the key to treating it. Beauty is it goes on its own after five to seven days.”
However, if you feel really sick, go to hospital, some people need antibiotics for the dry cough. Azithromyacin is working well and so far there are hardly any deaths associated with omicron. Get vaccinated if you can please, it helps, he added.
According to Dr Joseph Aluoch, a respiratory diseases specialist, “Omicron mutates between the Coronavirus that causes a cold and the SARS-COV2 virus. Though causing mild symptoms, worry is it spreads really fast compared to any of the other five mutations, so we could overwhelm the health systems.”
The emergence of Omicron has worsened recovery efforts by most African countries according to a recent report on Covid-19 in Africa considering only a tiny percentage of the population is fully vaccinated.
The Mo Ibrahim foundation Report on the pandemic in the continent pegs the rate of the fully vaccinated at 6.8 per cent of the overall population with a little chance of recovery unless the figure rises to least 70 per cent the population by end of 2022.
Almost all countries have experienced a second wave, with 84 per cent experiencing a third, and about nine countries including Kenya, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Mali, Mauritius, Somalia and Tunisia having experienced a fourth. Mauritius is currently experiencing a fifth wave.
Currently, only five African countries are predicted to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 per cent of their population by the end of 2021.
“The emergence of Omicron reminds us that Covid-19 remains a global threat and that vaccinating the whole world is the only way forward. Yet we continue to live with extreme vaccine discrimination, and Africa, in particular, is being left behind,” noted Mo Ibrahim, the founder chair of Mo Ibrahim Foundation even as WHO and some African heads of state continue calling for vaccine equity on the face of the Omicron variant in their territories.
African countries account for nearly 18 per cent of the worlds’ population yet only 2.9 per cent of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered. Interestingly, the G7 countries account for 14.8 per cent of the doses administered globally but only host 9.8 per cent of the global population.
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