September the 13th, 2022 - Croatian immunologist Zlatko Trobonjaca has warned of precautions we should take in the upcoming cooler weather as we enter the third autumn with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, we're soon set to enter our third autumn spent with the spread of the novel coronavirus, but also with a new vaccine adapted against the highly infectious Omicron variant. As we've already written, vaccination with the new vaccine against the Omicron variant has now begun across the country. Croatian immunologist Zlatko Trobonjaca commented for HRT what could await us this autumn.

The new Omicron adapted vaccine is one of which covers the BA1 subvariant and the other variant called BA5. Croatian immunologist Zlatko Trobonjaca explained to HRT what kind of vaccine it is: "These are what are known as bivalent vaccines, which means they have antigens that protect us from two different strains of the Wuhan virus, as well as from the Omicron subvariant,'' he also added that this need arose because the immunity we acquired through vaccination or through recovery could now be waiting. At the same time, the Omicron variant itself has changed so much through its various mutations that the immunity we've acquired is now less effective.

You can find out more about the new Omicron adapted vaccine and how to get it by clicking here.

He added that the new Omicron adapted vaccine is being recommended for people over the age of 60 to 65, people who suffer from chronic diseases, and people who are undergoing special therapies, particularly those which could harm their immune system. "People who have generally weakened immunity should take an additional booster dose to strengthen it," he said, and then referred to the current epidemiological situation across the Republic of Croatia.

"We had a wave of infection that wasn't so intense in terms of the number of detected cases, but it's more than likely that the number of total undetected cases was higher than we think it was. That wave is now calming down, but in autumn we can expect an increase in the number of infections because children have returned to school and people are going back to work, and we'll also be spending more time indoors, he said.

He pointed out that he doesn't believe that the consequences of the epidemic will be as they were back during the Delta wave we once saw, because we have acquired a certain level of collective immunity.

"We'll have come into contact with multiple antigens on many occasions now, either through vaccination or by recovering from an active coronavirus infection, and I think that we have a level of immunity now that will protect us from more severe forms of the disease developing, and on the other hand,'' concluded Croatian immunologist Zlatko Trobonjaca.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated coronavirus section.