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Possible to contract two coronavirus strains at once with one strain prevailing — expert

According to the expert, all the measures that worked against the previous coronavirus strains will most likely work against the Omicron strain as well

MOSCOW, December 7. /TASS/. It is possible to contract several coronavirus strains at once but one of them will prevail, Kamil Khafizov, who heads a research group developing new diagnostic methods for human diseases at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said on Tuesday.

"A simultaneous infection with several strains is possible. At the same time, the rate of the virus’ reproduction in the patient’s body may vary. That is, you get infected with two [strains] but one of them will begin to prevail," he told the Solovyov Live YouTube channel.

The scientist noted that with the emergence of new strains the virus on the whole remains the same although certain changes appear. At the same time, vaccination will still protect against it. "Its genome is 99.8% identical to the previous versions. Some of its sections are identical. Antibodies will still relate to it in the same way, so the protection will remain," he added.

According to the expert, all the measures that worked against the previous coronavirus strains will most likely work against the Omicron strain as well.