Here’s What We Know About The Omicron Variant So Far
We’re sure you’re all sick of hearing about the coronavirus and even more sick of wearing masks. It almost seems like a never-ending cycle. Despite being fully vaccinated, it is still possible to get the virus again, especially with new strains being identified. With that, it’s important to take the necessary precautions to protect yourselves and others.
Enter the omicron variant. South African scientists identified this highly-mutated strain on November 25, just in time for the holiday season. By November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) had categorized it as a “variant of concern”. To put it into perspective, the current seven-day moving average of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. is more than 88,400 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is an increase of 16% from the previous week before the first omicron case was even detected.
Omicron is concerning because it has about 50 mutations that set it apart from other variants like the second most recent identified, delta. According to the New York Times, there are at least 30 on its spike protein alone, which is what the virus uses to bond with human cells. Spike protein mutations cause alarm because the antibodies we produce, whether from vaccination or from having already been infected with COVID-19, are mostly built to fight against SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein. If these antibodies cannot recognize the new mutations on omicron’s spike protein, it’s possible the virus could be more effective at evading immunity. At this point, though we don’t have enough information to deem this definite.
Several health officials, including Anthony Fauci, M.D., director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it will take at least two weeks to get a fuller understanding of how easily this variant spreads, how sick it makes people and how it impacts the effectiveness of current COVID-19 vaccines (if it does).
So far, the variant has been detected in South Africa, Botswana, Israel, Australia, Hong Kong, Canada and several European countries, including England, Germany and Italy, according to the Washington Post.
As of Monday, November 29, the United States joined several other countries in issuing travel restrictions from South Africa and neighboring countries. Many have criticized these travel bans, including the WHO. “Travel restrictions may play a role in slightly reducing the spread of COVID-19 but place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement. “If restrictions are implemented, they should not be unnecessarily invasive or intrusive, and should be scientifically based, according to the International Health Regulations, which is a legally binding instrument of international law recognized by over 190 nations.”
Fauci, on the other hand, defended the U.S. travel restrictions. “The reason you do a travel ban is not that you think, naively, that you’re going to keep it out. But it buys you a couple of weeks. Because if you can keep things out in force for a couple of weeks, you can do a lot of things.”
Here are some ways of protecting yourself against this new variant and COVID-19 in general:
Get vaccinated if you haven’t yet or get boosted if you’re fully vaccinated (and it’s been at least six months since your full Pfizer/Moderna vaccination or at least two months since your Johnson & Johnson vaccination). Fauci says that there are about 62 million people in the country who are eligible to be vaccinated who have not yet gotten vaccinated. On top of that, people who got vaccinated 6-10 months ago are starting to recognize an understandable decrease in immunity, otherwise known as waning immunity.
Other steps you can take:
Clean your hands often, either with soap and water for 20 seconds or a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
Clean frequently touched objects and surfaces daily. If someone is sick or has tested positive for COVID-19, disinfect frequently touched surfaces.
Luckily, if you follow these steps and if you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic. Let’s all take the initiative to protect one another in order to end the virus.