The COVID-19 Omicron Variant: Here’s What We Know So Far
Omicron is here.In fact, by the time you read this, the number of cases that havealready hitthe United Stateswill likely have multiplied. That’s because thisԱ‘variant of concern’ has about 30 genetic mutations that make it more contagious thanall previous variants,according toDr. Salim A. Karim, Professor for Global Health in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia UniversityԻAdjunct Professor of Medicineat ϲapp.
Identifying the Omicron Variant
FirstidentifiedinSouth Africa,where it seems to be spreading more than twice as fast as Delta,Omicronܾsurfaced in travelersto Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Hong Kong, and the U.S.“Omicron is growing faster than anything we’ve seen before,” Dr. Karim says. “It draws on the most advantageous mutations of the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants, which enables it to spread much more easily,even among vaccinated people,” he explains. “But we actually don’t know what this virus can do. We have to figure it out as we go along.”
A ‘variant of concern’ is a dangerous variant that may spread quickly, cause severe disease, or lower the effectiveness of vaccines or treatments.Different variants have driven each wave of COVID-19, Dr. Karim says, noting that a fourth wave could be underway.Delta, whichrecentlyaccounted for virtually all COVID-19 cases in the United States andglobally,was the last coronavirus variant before Omicronto receive this designation.
Learning More About the New Variant
BecauseCOVID-19isstillmutating andno vaccine is 100% effective,however,researcherswon’t knowfor a whileifthe currentvaccines will remainprotective, he says.“We expect some level of immunity escape, otherwise known as ‘breakthrough infections,’ although data are not available, so there’s no definite way of knowing,” he says.
Breakthrough infections are nothing new, Dr. Karimsays.In fact, he adds.“We have already observed a rapidly increasing number of re-infections,and we expectthatindividualswith past infections are likely to get infected again.”
AlthoughOmicronmay dodgesome of the antibody protectionthatcomeswith vaccinationorCOVID-19infection, or evenresist certainmonoclonal antibody treatments, there is no evidence that itcauses more severe disease than previous variants, Dr. Karimadds.So far,doctors are seeingpatients with symptoms that are similar to previous cases of COVID-19. “Doctorshavealsonoticed that patients are generally younger, probably because we have higher vaccine coverage in older populations,”henotes.
Vaccines Protect Against COVID-19
Even if Omicron does turn out to be morevirulentthan other variants, theModerna, Pfizer-BioNtech, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines willprobablyreduce thechancesof it causingseveredisease.“Based on what we’ve seen with previous variants of concern, we expect the vaccines will do pretty well in protecting against hospitalization, severe disease, and death,”Dr. Karimsays.
That’s good news, sinceOmicron won’t be the last variantthat the world sees, Dr. Karim predicts.“I’m anticipating we will see several more variants before the virus finally stops mutating,” he says. Eventually, however, it will mutate to a point where it compromises itsownfitness, he says.
For now,theCDCrecommends thateveryone 5 years and older protect themselves from COVID-19 by getting , and thatall adults ages 18 years and older receive avaccine boostereither six months after their initial Pfizer orModernaseries or two months after their initial J&J vaccine.Italsourges everyone toڴDZǷ , such as wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high , washing hands frequently, and physically distancing from others.“We became complacent,” Dr. Karim says. “We’ve got to get back to being diligent.”