The Project: Dr Norman Swan fires up at politicians over Omicron ‘myth’

An Australian doctor has rallied against a commonly held Omicron “myth” as the nation continues to record a surge in deaths.

Australian doctor Norman Swan has rallied against a commonly held misconception about the Omicron variant, as the nation continues to record a surge in deaths and hospitalisations.

Speaking on Wednesday’s edition of The Project, Dr Swan said Australia was “just too slow” to react to the inevitable boom in cases following the easing of restrictions in December. He criticised the government supporting the “let it rip” philosophy, saying what was needed at that time was to “slow things down” and prepare states with ample testing supplies and provisions for hospitals.

Healthcare workers have come out in droves pleading for assistance as several staff are forced into isolation and unable to work, further placing hospitals in the most infected parts of the country under strain.

“In December, we had to slow things down so people could get their third shots which people need even with Delta. A lot of the people dying have not had their booster. It is tragic,” he said.

Dr Swan said an uptick in booster shots, following the government’s recent move to shave the interval down to three months, will help the ageing community. He said those who are dying are likely among the group who first received two doses of AstraZeneca in early 2021 and are therefore unprotected against the Omicron strain.

“The booster shot just brings that immunity back,” he said. “The most vulnerable people are the people aged over 60. They are the people who had AstraZeneca. With AstraZeneca and Omicron, there was no protection against infection and significantly reduced about half the protection against severe disease.

“So the very people who are most vulnerable got the vaccine which has got the least protection against severe disease.”

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Dr Norman Swan says Australia was far too slow to react to the Omicron wave.

Dr Swan said it was time to “amp up” the booster rollout for those most at risk, especially in aged facilities.

He went on to describe the two key factors that make Omicron a different beast, and why it likely won’t offer the natural immunity that most were hoping for.

“There is this myth that this is a mild virus. You hear it all the time from politicians. It is not a mild virus.” he said. “They compare to Delta. Now, Delta was a virulent virus, yes, it is less virulent than Delta, but if you compare it to the Wuhan virus, it is just as virulent as that. That’s why we’re seeing deaths.

“Two things about Omicron. One is the natural infection with Omicron does not seem to provide anything like the protection that an immunisation gives, unlikely to protect against the next variant and they use this word endemic as if it is happy days when it goes endemic.

“All endemic means is that an infection is somewhere in the world circulating and never disappears. Smallpox was endemic. Nobody says that's a mild disease. Malaria is endemic in many countries.

“Influenza is endemic and it is not a harmless disease. Endemic does not believe it is harmless. This is an epidemic virus. I'm sorry to say, it is not all over Red Rover and we've got to learn lessons and letting it rip has caused economic damage and unnecessary deaths.”