Omicron – The New Villain

 

Americans were still digesting their Thanksgiving feasts when the World Health Organization announced on Friday the emergence of a new coronavirus “variant of concern” whose name better fits a Marvel Comics villain than an invisible contagion.

The first known sample containing the new B.1.1.529 variant was collected in South Africa three weeks ago and confirmed last Wednesday. WHO is concerned that the new variant is replicating faster than previous variants have, giving it a significant growth advantage over the Delta variant which currently dominates in the United States:

This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning. Preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other VOCs. The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in South Africa.

 

Several dozen cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant have been identified outside of South Africa — by Saturday evening, new cases had been reported in Botswana, Hong Kong, Israel, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. Although Omicron has not been detected yet in the United States — the government quickly issued travel restrictions to South Africa and surrounding countries after WHO’s announcement — many public health experts agree it’s just a matter of time before the new variant hits our shores.

By distinguishing Omicron as a variant of concern, scientists believe its mutations have the potential of making it more contagious, more severe, and less likely to be deterred by the current group of vaccines and treatments. Richard Perez-Pena and Jason Horowitz explain why the world is reacting with such alarm to this highly mutated strain of coronavirus:

Scientists have identified about 50 mutations in the genome of the omicron variant that set it apart from other variants, far more than in any previous variant, including more than 30 on the spike protein that the virus uses to bind to host cells.

Changes in the spike protein are particularly worrisome because immune system antibodies that fight the virus — whether they are induced by infection or by vaccination — primarily recognize and target the spike.

 

The Omicron variant presents a “gut check” for everyone hoping the end is near for a pandemic caused by a virus that “mutates constantly”, says Jacqueline Howard:

Even as the pandemic nears its end and the coronavirus becomes endemic — meaning, it could have a constant presence but not affect an alarmingly large number of people — it’s still likely that new variants will continue to emerge.

“New variants are going to continually be generated by this virus, most of which will be inconsequential. It will remain an important task, however, to characterize and track new variants to determine their significance,” Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, wrote in an email to CNN on Friday.

“There will never be a time when there is a zero COVID threat as the virus transitions to endemicity,” Adalja wrote. “Once the virus is tamed — by losing the ability to threaten hospital capacity through high levels of population immunity and treatments — I think public health recommendations will be more relaxed, though some people may voluntarily choose to continue to use them in high risk contexts.”

 

As scientists learned more about the new SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant over the weekend, WHO reminded humanity of the ways in which we can all protect ourselves and each other. For those who have been waiting to get a vaccine, NOW would be as good a time as any to get a jab. If it turns out the vaccines are less effective against Omicron than they are against Delta, being immunized with a weaker vaccine is still better than not being immunized at all, at least until new vaccines are developed:

Individuals are reminded to take measures to reduce their risk of COVID-19, including proven public health and social measures such as wearing well-fitting masks, hand hygiene, physical distancing, improving ventilation of indoor spaces, avoiding crowded spaces, and getting vaccinated.

 

The appearance of Omicron is a reminder that coronavirus doesn’t care about “pandemic fatigue.” The virus is always looking out for its own survival and it will keep chasing us in its never-ending search for vulnerable hosts — the careless and the unmasked, the elderly, the immunosuppressed and chronically ill, the unvaccinated — to enter and replicate, and like a Marvel villain, to destroy.

Being vaccinated is still the best protection we have to avoid this invisible menace, followed by all the other layers of protection such as social distancing, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, and wearing face masks in public. With the news about Omicron, choosing to remain unvaccinated is a decision that is more foolish today than it was yesterday. And for those in need of a booster dose, it’s time to move now.

 

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source http://www.thepediablog.com/2021/11/29/omicron-the-new-villain/