Nick Coatsworth claims Omicron is ‘clearly not’ more dangerous than the flu

Former deputy chief medical officer Nick Coatsworth has claimed the omicron variant of Covid is ‘clearly not’ more dangerous than the flu.

Dr Coatsworth said people without pre-existing medical conditions had little to fear from the milder strain once vaccinated and most wouldn’t need booster shots.

The Canberra infectious disease physician earlier told Daily Mail Australia the time had come to stop wearing masks and predicted the pandemic would end in 2022.

‘No, it’s not. It’s clearly not,’ he told Sky News on Thursday when asked if Omicron was more dangerous than seasonal flu. 

Dr Coatsworth claimed Covid booster shots were only necessary for vulnerable or elderly Australians and those with chronic illnesses. 

‘Young, fit, healthy adults and kids, their risk was so low anyway that if you take it from 0.007 to 0.001 per cent – I’m using those numbers to demonstrate the effect, I’d have to get the actual numbers for you,’ he said.

‘So, for the booster perspective, from the disease perspective, this is an illness that will very rarely cause harm to young, fit, healthy adults and kids,’ he said.

This is despite the waning of Delta and Omicron waves in Europe and Israel being correlated with the rollout of booster shots.

More to come.