Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairwoman of the South African Medical Association, told the Commons Science and Technology Committee on Tuesday, that two Pfizer jabs offers 70% protection against being admitted to hospital.
Dr Coetzee agreed that a new study by the South African Medical Research Council seems to suggest Omicron could be 29% less severe than the first wave.
However, she said that the clinical picture shows, so far that people are mainly suffering from a mild illness of Omicron especially those who are vaccinated, but warned that still “don’t have all the answers.”
“The breakthrough infections we are seeing are mild… (and) the symptoms we are seeing in (vaccinated) people are less severe or intense than in the unvaccinated,” she said.
“On a hospital level… between 88% to 90% (of people) are unvaccinated.”
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