A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that a message about the Omicron variant was given by the ‘All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists’. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Message from All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists about the Omicron variant.
Fact: There is no evidence that the ‘All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists’ had given out such a message about the new Omicron variant. There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants. According to the World Health Organisation, the PCR tests continue to detect the infection with Omicron variant. A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.529 was reported to the World Health Organisation on 24 November 2021. This variant was named Omicron and classified as a Variant of Concern by the WHO on 26 November 2021. As of now, there is not much credible information available about this variant. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched on the internet about the message by ‘All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists’ regarding Omicron, no credible information was found about the same. However, we found that the exact content was being shared on social media since March 2021 during the prevalence of the Delta variant also, much before the emergence of Omicron.
Symptoms of Omicron:
There is no evidence that fever and cough are not the symptoms of the Omicron variant. “There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from those from other variants.”
Effectiveness of current tests:
There is no evidence that more and more pharyngeal nasal tests are turning out to be false. According to World Health Organisation, the PCR tests continue to detect the infection with the Omicron variant. “Studies are ongoing to determine whether there is any impact on other types of tests, including rapid antigen detection test.”
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.529 was reported to the World Health Organisation on 24 November 2021. This variant was named Omicron and classified as a Variant of Concern by the WHO on 26 November 2021. As of now, there is not much credible information available about this variant. Scientists are working to gather data and virus samples that can be studied to answer important questions about Omicron.
India detected 21 cases of the Omicron variant so far. We could not confirm whether the ‘All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists’ have given out this message, which has no factual basis.
To sum it up, there is no evidence that the ‘All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists’ had given such a message about the new Omicron variant, which has no factual basis.
