Lucknow, Nov 30 (PTI) Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) director Dr RK Dhiman Tuesday said vaccination will prove to be the most effective weapon for Uttar Pradesh against the new variant of coronavirus.He also said that according to the assessment of doctors, the transmissibility of new variant Omicron may be high but it is not more dangerous than previous strains, according to a statement issued by the government.He said that as per the directives issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a special team of doctors and health experts formed during the second wave of COVID-19 has prepared an action plan to avoid the spread of the Omicron variant.According to the action plan, the special team of doctors from SGPGI has discussed the precautions to be taken in the state regarding the spread of the new variant and its effects after vaccination, he said.Dr Dhiman said vaccination will prove to be the most effective weapon for Uttar Pradesh against the new variant. Due to the increased medical facilities and adequate presence of medical resources in the last one and half years, now the state is fully prepared to face the new variant, he said.Dhiman further said that in view of the increasing cases of Omicron in other countries, different aspects have been discussed by the institute regarding this new variant. He added that according to the assessment of experts, the possibility of increased mortality from this new variant is less as compared to the Delta variant.To avoid the outbreak of the third wave, there is a need to follow the COVID-19 protocol along with vaccination at the earliest, he said.Following the instructions of the chief minister, along with increasing the daily monitoring in the state, RT-PCR tests of all travellers coming from abroad are being done and samples are being sent for genome sequencing to avoid any future risks of transmission, Dhiman said in the statement. PTI NAV TIR TIR