The arrival of the omicron variant: How serious and communicable is the new COVID-19 mutation?

A new variant of COVID-19, potentially more contagious and with multiple mutations, was detected in South Africa at the end of November, signifying a battle against a possible new pandemic wave, according to scientists. This new lineage of the SARS-CoV-2 family received the name of omicron.

In fact, the number of daily infections in this country, the worst hit in the continent by the pandemic, has multiplied by ten since the beginning of November.

The variant B.1.1.529 has a number “Extremely high” of mutations and “We can see that it has a very high potential for spread”, declared the virologist Tulio de Oliveira during an online press conference of the Ministry of Health.

His team at the KRISP research institute, which belongs to the University of Kwazulu-Natal, discovered the beta variant, which is highly contagious, last year.

Three on the announcement, the British government announced that it was banning travel with South Africa and five neighboring countries (Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Botswana) on fears that the variant is even more contagious than the delta.

Mutations of the initial virus can make it more contagious until it becomes dominant. Was the case with delta variant, first discovered in India and which, according to the WHO, reduced the effectiveness of vaccines against the transmission of the disease to 40%.

How serious is the omicron variant?

The new variant B.1.1.529 of COVID-19, first detected in southern Africa, was classified on Friday as “worrying” by the World Health Organization (WHO) and will bear the name “Omicron”.

“Variant B.1.1.529 was first notified to WHO by South Africa on November 24, 2021 (…). This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are worrisome “said the group of experts commissioned by the WHO to follow the evolution of the coronavirus.

Belgium announced that it was the first European country to have detected a case of the new variant and several countries have already canceled or restricted flights from southern Africa.

The identification of this new variant of the COVID-19, potentially highly contagious and multi-mutated, was announced Thursday in South Africa. One case has been detected in Hong Kong, another in Israel in a person returning from Malawi and another in Belgium.

How transmissible is the omicron variant?

The speed with which new daily cases of coronavirus in South Africa, many related to omicron, suggest that it is due to the strong transmission capacity of the strain.

The daily positive rate for coronavirus increased rapidly, from 3.6%, 6.5% and 9.1%, according to official data.

“Some of the mutations that we saw in the past allowed the virus to spread faster and more easily. For this reason, we suspect that this new variant will spread very quickly “explains the teacher Mosa Moshabela.

Are COVID-19 Vaccines Effective?

Pfizer

The German laboratory BioNTech said it was urgently studying the efficacy of the vaccine against COVID-19 which he developed with Pfizer to find out if it protects against the new B.1.1.529 variant detected in South Africa.

“We expect more data from laboratory tests in two weeks maximum”a spokesman said.

“These data will provide more information on whether B.1.1.529 could be a variant that could require adjustment of our vaccine if the variant spreads globally.”he added.

According to BioNTech, the variant B.1.1.529 “It clearly differs from the already known variants because it has additional mutations in the spike protein”.

“Pfizer and BioNTech prepared several months ago to adjust their vaccine in less than six weeks and deliver the first doses in 100 days” if a variant proved resistant, stressed the laboratory spokesperson.

Modern

The American biotech firm Moderna announced its intention to develop a specific booster vaccine for the new omicron variant of COVID-19, detected in South Africa and considered “worrying” by WHO.

“Moderna will rapidly develop a candidate vaccine for a specific booster dose for the omicron variant”the US company said in a statement.

The ad is part of a targeted strategy to work on specific booster doses for the variants of concern, according to Moderna.

“In 2020-2021, that already included booster doses for delta and beta variants”, said the laboratory, which indicated having “Repeatedly demonstrated its ability to bring new candidates to the clinical trial phase in 60-90 days”.

“Since its inception, we have said that to combat the pandemic, it is imperative to be proactive in the face of the evolution of the virus”Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Mutations of the omicron variant they are worrying and for several days we have also advanced as quickly as possible to execute our strategy, in order to fight against this variant “added.

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