Doctor who discovered Omicron reveals she was ‘pressured’ into making variant sound worse

The South African doctor who discovered the Omicron strain has revealed she was ‘pressured’ into describing the variant as more dangerous than it really is.

Dr Angelique Coetzee was one of the first to report the new variant in November last year and said it caused ‘mild’ symptoms for those in her country.

But she claims she was told by scientists and politicians from around the globe that her description was wrong.

‘Because of all of Covid’s mutations, all of these scientists and politicians who aren’t from South Africa were contacting me telling me I was wrong when I spoke out, that it was a serious disease … they were telling me I had no idea what I was talking about, they kept attacking me,’ Dr Coetzee told The Daily Telegraph.

‘In South Africa it is a lighter disease, but in Europe it has been a serious, serious illness, which is what the politicians want me to say.

‘There has been a lot of pressure from European scientists and politicians who have said ”Please don’t say it is a mild illness”.’

The GP said those who had contracted the variant in South Africa experienced much milder symptoms compared to the Delta strain and often fell ill with only a sore throat and fatigue.

‘They are accusing me of lying, of downplaying Omicron because of how it has been in Europe … in their minds, it is impossible for a disease with more than 38 mutations to be mild,’ she said.

Dr Coetzee, who is also the chair of the South African Medical Association, said Omicron was more serious for the unvaccinated, but was mild for the majority of those who caught it.

She said she couldn’t understand why politicians wouldn’t listen to her, despite her seeing the effects first hand.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant had echoed Dr Coetzee’s statements when the state saw a surge in Omicron cases.

She said that based on evidence from overseas as well as in Australia, hospitalisations from the variant were a lot less common than they were from the Delta strain.

‘It indicates that infection with Omicron is likely to be milder than infection with Delta, with the risk of hospitalisation being around 60 per cent to 80 per cent less than for Delta,’ Dr Chant said in December.