Reinfection risk from Omicron higher than other variants: Study

Mumbai: The reinfection risk, or evasion of immunity from prior infection, from the Omicron variant is substantially higher than the Beta and Delta variants, South African researchers have found in a study based on surveillance data.

The study also found that the spread of the Beta or Delta variants was due to increased transmissibility, rather than immune escape.

"We find evidence of a substantial and ongoing increase in the risk of reinfection that is temporally consistent with the timing of the emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa, suggesting that its selection advantage is at least partially driven by an increased ability to infect previously infected individuals," the authors of the study noted. They said they had found no evidence that reinfection risk increased as a result of the emergence of Beta or Delta variants.