Dr. Omar Hamada on Dec. 1 said that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 may provide natural immunity without inducing severe illness, as the symptoms so far resemble more of a “mild, common cold” in South Africa. In an interview with NTD’s “Capitol Report,” the emergency room doctor and former U.S. Army Special Forces lieutenant colonel said that even though “we’re seeing an uptick in [the] number of people affected, the severity of disease seems to be, at this point, minimal.” “If the infectivity is greater, but the virulence or severity is less, this may be actually something good in terms of getting people immune to it without necessarily having to depend on a vaccine that’s not incredibly effective,” Hamada stated. On Dec. 3 the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Omicron has been detected in 38 countries, up from 23 countries two days prior. The Omicron variant has also been reported in …