The new strain of the FLiRT coronavirus infection, which was recently discovered in Ukraine, is more contagious than its predecessors. However, vaccination, as before, remains an effective means of prevention. This was stated by the deputy head of the Ministry of Health and chief sanitary doctor Ihor Kuzin on the air of the telethon.
As Kuzin recalled, the first three cases of the new FLiRT subvariant were recently recorded in Ukraine: two in Kyiv and one in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.
"This is one of the subvariants, which is pre-characterized by the fact that it is transmitted even faster from person to person and escapes the immune response even more, but the general symptoms remain the same: an increase in body temperature, mainly in the first days of the disease, cough, headache, muscle pain may occur," — he explained and noted that people who did not receive a booster dose of the vaccine have a higher risk of infection.
According to Kuzin, the first reports about the new sub-variant began to appear back in March. In the months that followed, many countries reported rising cases of COVID. For example, in the United States of America (USA), the indicators increased by 25%.
Although the World Health Organization has not yet rated FLiRT, there are reports that the current vaccine used for preventive vaccinations is effective.
Are there enough vaccines in Ukraine?
The chief state sanitary doctor said that the country currently has half a million doses of vaccines against COVID. Like WHO, Ukraine has also updated its national recommendations.
If a person has concomitant non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, overweight or cardiovascular disease, or cancer, should receive a single vaccination.
"This is a basic course of vaccination, and then one annual booster is recommended for such a person. For healthcare workers, service workers, the same recommendation is made, taking into account their professional risk and a sufficient number of contacts." Cousin explained.
For people who do not have concomitant non-infectious diseases, a single vaccination is sufficient as a basic course.
"Basically, we have moved away from this two-time vaccination and a certain number of boosters every six months for some groups, so now such recommendations are simplified. Therefore, if a person does not have accompanying non-infectious diseases, he can be vaccinated once, and that will be enough. If there is, then we advise to vaccinate annually." he noted.
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