Omicron entered our lexicon at exactly 12 p.m. ET on November 26, according to Google Trends, which saw a massive increase in online searches. Since then, searches have only increased as people scour the web for news on the new variant of concern.
However, the variant is so new that researchers struggle to unravel its secrets, probably for a few weeks, but possibly longer, and ask for patience. “We know that getting a quick understanding of disease severity with Omicron (especially in vaccinated people and reinfections) is absolutely critical, but it is too early to have reliable data.” warned Dr. Richard Lessells, an infectious disease specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
Therefore, as more cases are detected around the world, including in Canada, no one is sure how Omicron will compare to the current heavyweight variant of COVID-19, Delta, or how it will affect currently approved vaccines. for your use. Still, there are a few things we do know:
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What is Omicron?
First, a little background: Viruses mutate regularly, it’s in their nature. So while experts have identified many mutations or evolutions of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus, only a few reach the level of being labeled as variants of concern. Perhaps the two most famous are Alpha and Delta, which were the causes of Canada’s second and third waves in the winter and spring of 2020-21. (The Pango Network traces their lineages; or for example, Alpha, also known as B.1.1.7, comes from the B.1.1. Lineage, sandwiched between B.1.1.5 and B.1.1.8, neither of which amounted to much.)
Researchers in South Africa were concerned about Omicron due to its specific mutations and the rapid increase in cases in the region. Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) in Stellenbosch, told a press conference that “this variant did surprise us.” In particular, they had found more than 30 mutations in the coronavirus spike protein.
That spike protein is important, not just because that’s how the SARS-CoV-2 virus stick to healthy cells in the body, but also because the current crop of vaccines targets that same spike protein by using harmless versions of it to elicit an immune response in people.
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Experts worry that mutations in the Omicron spike protein could mean that vaccines are less effective or that people who have already recovered from COVID-19 could be susceptible to this new variant. At the same time, the researchers caution against thinking we’re going back to March 2020. For one thing, they don’t think Omicron will evade vaccines entirely. Also, there are now many more treatments for COVID. And vaccine manufacturers are already analyzing data to see how they may need to modify the composition of COVID-19 vaccines.
The other concern is how transmittable Omicron could be. From the perspective of this virus, transmissibility equals success. The Gamma variant was perceived as a dangerous beast until it was effectively swept away by the much more transmissible Delta.
Who found it?
According to local reports, the new variant was discovered by Dr. Sikhulile Moyo, a Zimbabwean-born scientist working at the Harvard HIV Reference Laboratory in Botswana. He was doing genomic sequencing on COVID-19 positive test samples and noticed that several had dozens of mutations that had not been seen before. Around the same time in neighboring South Africa, researchers were discovering the same mutations in test samples from a group of cases in Gauteng.
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South Africa reported on the new variant, B.1.1.529, on November 26 and asked for a emergency meeting of the World Health Organization. On November 26, the WHO named it Omicron and classified it as a variant of interest.
Right now, researchers, especially those in southern Africa, are sharing information with colleagues around the world. On November 29, Dr. de Oliviera I declare that The South African Epidemic Innovation and Response Center had uploaded all of its raw sequencing data for Omicron to the US. Website of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. (Things move so fast that Twitter is a de facto notification system.)
What does this mean for the world?
Well, no one is sure right now. It takes time to examine new variants and determine their threat level.
At the same time, the virus will continue to mutate. It can be slowed down and possibly stopped with vaccinations, but only if everyone is vaccinated. And in this moment, much of Africa is still waiting for doses to arrive, while other areas battle misinformation that is holding back immunization efforts. In sub-Saharan Africa, the leader in vaccines is South Africa, with only 25% of its population fully vaccinated, followed by Botswana with 20%. according to Our World in Data.
READ: The obstacle to full recovery from the pandemic: ‘Pockets’ of unvaccinated Canadians
What does that mean for Canada?
Canada is still quite vulnerable: 22% of our entire population is not vaccinated, according to Health Canada. And, as we saw this summer during large outbreaks in Alberta and Saskatchewan, viruses can easily circulate in areas where vaccination rates are low. In addition, when the number of cases increases, so do hospitalizations, meaning that overburdened healthcare systems have to postpone other non-emergency surgeries and treatments.
Why do countries find Omicron cases so quickly?
Researchers in South Africa discovered how to quickly identify Omicron through a standard PCR nasal swab test. As explained by the World Health Organization in your technical report variant paper: “Several laboratories have indicated that for a widely used PCR test, one of the three target genes is not detected (called S gene dropout or S gene target failure) and therefore this test can be used as a marker for this variant, pending confirmation of sequencing. “
Public health authorities around the world now had a way to quickly scan positive COVID tests for the new variant, even while waiting for full confirmation through genomic sequencing, which takes around 10 days. And, indeed, they began to report cases.
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Some countries like Israel and Japan are closing their borders. Should Canada?
One can’t help but worry about the potential dangers of Omicron, which is why many governments, including Canada, quickly piled on additional public health requirements for travelers. On November 26, when no cases had been detected in Canada, Ottawa put new test measures in effect for Canadians and residents who had been to South Africa, while banning nationals who had recently been to those nations. Two days later, two probable cases they were found within our borders.
As more specific tests are conducted, more cases are found around the world, including in Europe and Australia, that are not on Ottawa’s travel restriction list. As of Nov. 29, there were at least 184 confirmed and 1,305 probable cases worldwide, according to a Newsnodes.com crawler.
Like canada and the world discovered with DeltaOnce it spreads through the community, border restrictions quickly lose their value.
Why is it called Omicron?
Well, B.1.1.529 is a mouthful. On June 1, the World Health Organization adopted a more user-friendly way Naming system based on the letters of the Greek alphabet for the general public. While the next unused letter after Mu (a variant identified in Colombia in the summer) was Nu, both she and the next letter, Xi, were considered too confusing (many pronounced Nu as “New”, implying that it is something different, while Xi is a very common last name). So the WHO moved on to the next option: Omicron.
Reference-www.macleans.ca