After about 23 months of 1st reported SARS-CoV-2, and leading to global 260 million cases with 5.2 million deaths approximately, a new ‘Variant of Concern’ (VoC), omicron was reported in Botswana and South Africa on November 25, 2021. As of now, many cases have been reported in several countries. And other countries of the world are banning flights from or to these regions, while some have banned the flights altogether.

 Studies are underway in South African and other regions to know more about the characteristics of this variant regarding how much it differs from previous variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta in its transmissibility, disease severity, the effect of prior infection, capacity to circumvent vaccines, evasion of the immune system, and finally, the effectiveness of previous treatments and tests.

 Not much has been known about omicron due to the lack of enough clinical data. So nothing can be said about this variant with surety. The information collected and summarized by officials so far is as follows.

 According to the surveillance in South Africa, the cases are increasing rapidly in the country and the doubling time in this omicron wave is higher than all previous waves. A study on mutations of this variant suggests increased transmissibility and viral binding affinity.

So far, no unusual symptoms have been reported; this variant clinical presentation is the same as that of previous variants. Omicron has presented with mostly mild cases and some asymptomatic individuals.
            Although it is not clear how much omicron will have a potential effect on COVID-19 vaccines’ efficacy, it is most likely that breakthrough infections can occur even in fully vaccinated people. Many experts believe that omicron may not be able to fully outplay other types of immunity produced by vaccines than antibodies. Pfizer vaccine’s company claimed that a booster dose in fully vaccinated patients could offer significant protection.

 Even when a mutation of omicron is making it difficult to be detected on PCR, these tests will still keep on working for detecting the newly discovered variant. Studies are underway to determine its specific effect on tests, including rapid antigen detection tests.

As far as the treatment is concerned, steroids and IL6 Blockers will still be used in the severity of the disease. Some experts suggest that previous monoclonal antibodies might not work against omicron. But GSK Company claims that its preclinical studies demonstrated retention of sotrovimab activity even against omicron variant.

 
            WHO recommendations for people about this variant are still the same as for previous ones; to maintain a distance of 1 meter between people, wear a mask, avoid crowd, keep hands sanitized/clean, cough or sneeze in elbow or tissue, and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Here are some possible websites to visit for more insight.

  1. https://www.who.int/en/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants/
  2. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02758-6/fulltext
  3. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant.html
  4. https://www.gisaid.org/hcov19-variants/
  5. https://sacoronavirus.co.za
  6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34075212/
  7. https://www.nicd.ac.za/frequently-asked-questions-for-the-b-1-1-529-mutated-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-south-africa/
  8. https://www.samrc.ac.za/news/tshwane-district-omicron-variant-patient-profile-early-features
  9. https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/sotrovimab-retains-activity/
  10. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2021-update-on-omicron