COPENHAGEN (Reuters – Omicron coronavirus is faster at bypassing immunity in vaccinated individuals than Delta, according to a Danish study. It is this that Omicron has been spreading so quickly.

Scientists race to determine if this mutation causes less severe diseases and is more contagious that the Delta-dominating Omicron variant since November’s discovery.

There are many factors that can make a virus more easily transmissible, including its persistence in the air and its ability to latch onto the cells of other people.

In mid-December they examined nearly 12,000 Danish homes and found Omicron to be 2.7 to 3.0 times as infectious as the Delta variant.

Researchers at Statistics Denmark, University of Copenhagen and Statens Serum Institut (SSI) conducted the study. They found that the virus spreads faster because it can evade immunity from vaccines.

Researchers stated that their findings confirmed the fact that Omicron variant spread quickly can be attributed to immune evasiveness, rather than an increase in basic transmissibility. However, the study was not peer-reviewed.

Seventy-eight% of Danes are fully vaccinated. Nearly 48% received an additional “boosted” shot. Pfizer BioNTech has vaccinated more than 88% of Danes.

It was also shown that those with booster vaccinations are less likely than people without it to spread the virus.

Tyra Grove Krause, SSI’s technical chief, said Monday that Omicron is less transmissible than the Omicron variant.

Omicron can still exert pressure on our healthcare system,” she stated, noting that everything suggests that Omicron is less dangerous than Delta.

This is in line with other Omicron studies.

Danish data indicated that five of the total 93 individuals hospitalized for COVID-19 Omicron-related illness in December were being treated with intensive care.

Krause stated, “This could be what will lift us out from the pandemic so that this becomes a last wave of corona.”