The new Omicron variant has not been officially detected in Bosnia and Herzegovina but it does not mean it is not present in the country, medical genetics specialist Rijad Konjhodzic told N1.

He said the new coronavirus variant was probably on the European soil a month before it was officially detected there.

According to him, Bosnia and Herzegovina still lacks a systemic solution and investing into equipment for the regular virus sequencing.

“We missed a chance to reach the collective protection with this generation of vaccines. Vaccines will be modified, this is how the flu vaccines work, the same will happen with those for the coronavirus,” he explained.

Konjhodzic stressed that there is still no sufficient information about the Omicron variant. He also warned that the advices of experts regarding the coronavirus are rarely obeyed.

“And when something like this happens, we are asked to give the answers immediately. The answer is: we don't know! This is a new strain, there are over 50 mutations, it is likely that the efficiency of these vaccines is reduced,” said the expert, adding that the vaccines certainly give a certain degree of the protection.

“The talks about should we get vaccinated or not has become pointless,” he stressed.

Konjhodzic also warned it is “a bad sign” that there are less than 50 percent of the fully vaccinated in BiH, but that this will hopefully not affect the length of the pandemic.

“As far as the third dose, it is important to strengthen the immune system. As I said a year ago: the best vaccine is the one you can get immediately,” he concluded.