Omicron
Omicron, should I expose
myself?
Classification
of Omicron (B.1.1.529): SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern -
WHO - 11/26/21 The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021. The epidemiological situation in South Africa has been characterized by three distinct peaks in reported cases, the latest of which was predominantly the Delta variant. In recent weeks, infections have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection of B.1.1.529 variant. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November 2021. 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. Current SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics continue to detect this variant. Several labs have indicated that for one widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and this test can therefore be used as marker for this variant, pending sequencing confirmation. Using this approach, this variant has been detected at faster rates than previous surges in infection, suggesting that this variant may have a growth advantage. There are a number of studies underway and the TAG-VE will continue to evaluate this variant. WHO will communicate new findings with Member States and to the public as needed. Based on the evidence presented indicative of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology, the TAG-VE has advised WHO that this variant should be designated as a VOC, and the WHO has designated B.1.1.529 as a VOC, named Omicron. As such, countries are asked to do the following:
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. For reference, WHO has working definitions for SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Interest (VOI) and Variant of Concern (VOC). A SARS-CoV-2 VOI is a SARS-CoV-2 variant:
A SARS-CoV-2 VOC is a SARS-CoV-2 variant that meets the definition of a VOI (see above) and, through a comparative assessment, has been demonstrated to be associated with one or more of the following changes at a degree of global public health significance:
Source:
www.who.int/news/item/26-11-2023-classification-of-omicron-(b.1.1.529)-sars-cov-2-variant-of-concern The very early
signs The first of those worries came true with the Alpha and Delta variants: Alpha was more contagious than the original version of the virus, and Delta was even more contagious than Alpha. But the second of the worries has largely not been borne out: With both Alpha and Delta, the percentage of Covid cases that led to hospitalization or death held fairly steady. This pattern isn’t surprising, scientists say. Viruses often evolve in ways that help them flourish. Becoming more contagious allows a virus to do so; becoming more severe has the potential to do the opposite, because more of a virus’s hosts can die before they infect others. It is too soon to know whether the Omicron variant will fit the pattern. But the very early evidence suggests that it may. Unfortunately, Omicron seems likely to be more contagious than Delta, including among vaccinated people. Fortunately, the evidence so far does not indicate that Omicron is causing more severe illness:
In the initial days after a new variant is discovered, I know that many people focus on worst-case scenarios. The alarming headlines can make it seem as if the pandemic may be about to start all over again, with vaccines powerless to stop the variant. To be clear, there is genuine uncertainty about Omicron. Maybe it will prove to be worse than the very early signs suggest and cause more severe illness than Delta. But assuming the worst about each worrisome new variant is not a science-based, rational response. And alarmism has its own costs, especially to mental health, notes Dr. Raghib Ali, an epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge. “Of course we should take it
seriously,” Ali wrote
on Twitter, “but there is no plausible scenario that
this variant is going to take us back to square one (i.e.
the situation pre-vaccines).” The
latest Scientists are particularly worried about this one, known as omicron, because it has an unusual number of mutations — more than have been found in other highly transmissible variants such as delta. Many appear on the spike protein, the part of the virus that binds to human cells and enables it to gain entry. The fear is that these changes could help omicron more easily get around the body's immune defenses and render the vaccines less effective. “This is the most concerning variant we’ve seen since Delta,” Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, told The Washington Post. The announcement of the new variant sent financial markets tumbling, prompted countries around the world to restrict travel from southern Africa, and set off a frantic scientific effort to figure out just how dangerous the evolved pathogen might be. Such a reaction is to be expected at a time when delta is already resurging across Europe and the United States. But it's important to keep the situation in perspective. Scientists still know little about the new variant outside its mutation profile. And so far only a few dozen confirmed cases have been identified in a handful of countries. Public health recommendations haven't changed: get vaccinated, get boosted, get tested when you've got symptoms, and mask up in risky settings. Read our FAQ on the variant for more. As the Biden administration tries to gauge the threat from omicron, the United States will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region. A senior administration official tells my colleague Annie Linskey that the policy is being implemented in “an abundance of caution in light of a new covid-19 variant circulating in Southern Africa." The decision came after the White House arranged a meeting between U.S. and South African doctors to learn more about the variant's spread. “We want to find out scientist-to-scientist exactly what is going on,” President Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci said in a CNN interview. As shoppers hit the stores for Black Friday, the Dow plunged more than 900 points on news of the new variant, marking its worst day of 2021. Airline and cruise company stocks dropped. So did oil prices. But investors flocked back to companies that did well during the first year of the pandemic, including Zoom and Peloton. Infections continue to soar in
Michigan, now the country's virus epicenter. Covid-19
patients, most of them unvaccinated, are flooding into
hospitals across the Wolverine State, pushing the
health-care system into crisis. The state's caseload has
hit a record high, and hospitalizations are soon expected to
do the same. One health executive described the situation as
“almost unmanageable.” At least two dozen other
states have seen cases rise at least 5 percent in the past
two weeks, signaling that the fifth pandemic wave predicted
by health experts is indeed upon us.
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