Fear of Corona Omicronic Variant
Corona has come under a lot of control worldwide through vaccines and personal safety measures, social distance, etc. However, the fear of mutation is blinding all these achievements. After a few months, various variants appear with new mutations. However, with a few exceptions, these mutations have been shown to be harmless in most cases.
Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Their main task is to review coronavirus mutations and name new variants. This committee meets when a mutation produces a new type of coronavirus.
Among the earlier variants, there was more panic about Delta. Another new variant was recently discovered in Botswana, whose mutations surpassed all previous ones. The virus was found in a blood sample from a covid patient on November 9. It was symbolically named B.1.1.529. Initially, this variant was known to be prevalent in South Africa.
The South African Department of Health provided information on the new variant to the World Health Organization on 24 November. The Technical Advisory Committee met on the 28th. The custom of choosing the letters of the Greek alphabet as the name of a coronavirus variant. As a result, Omicron (6) was chosen as the name of this new variant. Following the recommendations of the Technical Committee, the World Health Organization has identified Omicron as a ‘VOC / Variant of Concern’ or a worrying variant.
In addition to South Africa and Botswana, Omicron was first found in Hong Kong and Belgium. It is believed that the Omicron variant was created by a patient who failed to recover from Corona. After Africa, more patients have been identified in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy. At least one patient has been identified in Israel and Denmark. It is thought that variants spread from Africa to these countries. Omicron is expected to spread widely in Asia and Europe.
South African geneticists began researching the Omicron variant as soon as it was identified. According to them, 50 mutations of the Omicron variant have been identified so far, of which at least 30 are thought to be mutations of spike proteins. This spike protein is very important in the case of coronavirus. This is how the virus attaches to the human cell and reproduces. Several vaccines work by targeting this spike protein.
Scientists analyze three factors in the case of any corona variant. This determines how dangerous the virus is. The first issue is how contagious this variant is, and the second is the prevalence of the disease caused by it. After all, what is the ability of this variant to evade the immunity of the human body, which is called Immune escape?
Let’s take a look at the power of transmission . Although this variant was identified only a few weeks ago, a large number of people have been infected with this variant in the last few days. Ashish Jha, a professor at Brown University in the United States, analyzed the data so far and said that earlier variants of the Corona took several months to spread throughout the area. However, the Omicron variant has established itself in South Africa within a week.
According to nationally published data in South Africa, the lion’s share of Kovid patients are infected with the Omicron variant. According to Professor Jhar, Omicron has so quickly emerged as the main virus in South Africa, which is worrying. This may be due to the fact that only 36% of the population has been vaccinated. The reluctance of many people to get a new vaccine has also become a big problem.
Not only that, but the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the regenerative power of Omicron. According to World Health Organization officials, patients recovering from Corona can be attacked by Omicron, creating new diseases.
Considering the prevalence of the disease, the amount of information available is not enough to come to a conclusion. For this, it is necessary to closely monitor the victims and see the admission trend of Omicron patients in the hospital. Not only South Africa but other countries as well.
Last but not least, Omicron’s ability to evade the human body’s immune system. It is important to know how much the conventional vaccine will work on this new variant. Experts believe that no matter what the mutations, the vaccine against Omicron will not be completely ineffective. However, they also think that there are reasons to be concerned about the mutations in Omicron. The number of mutations in Omicron is much higher than in other variants. And spike protein mutations can significantly reduce the vaccine’s ability to vaccinate against the virus.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, there is a need to gather enough information before Omicron’s ability to resist the human immune system. However, their opinion is that the virus is more likely to spread in Europe. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Europe could once again become the epicenter of the virus.
Omicron has not yet been identified in the United States. One of the US President’s Advisers on Corona . According to Anthony Fawcett, the new variant is a ‘red flag.’ However, he expressed cautious optimism that the rush could be caught early. Currently, the Delta variant is the main coronavirus, and in the United States it is the cause of 99% covid. University of Pittsburgh professor. According to Graham Snyder, it is not yet time to decide whether Omicron will come first in the first place by removing Delta.
Columbia University Professor of Microbiology and Disease Prevention. David Ho is a bit apprehensive. He speculates that the effects of Omicron on the conventional treatment of covid may be worse. As a result, many of Covid’s treatments may not be successful against this new variant.
Dr. Ashish Jha does not think that Omicron will create a situation where the approved vaccine will become ineffective. However, the vaccine will have some effect on the immune system. But much depends on the magnitude of the impact.
Vaccine companies have also started working. According to a press release issued by Modern on November 26, they have started research on a new variant. They are hoping to get information about this within a week.
AstraZeneca and Pfizer Bio-N-Tech are doing the same. They also claim to know the effects of variants on their respective vaccines in the next few weeks. A spokesman for Johnson & Johnson said researchers were also working to determine Johnson’s ability to vaccinate on Omicron.
If the current vaccine has minimal efficacy over the Omicron variant, then there are several ways. According to Andy Slavitt, a former Corona adviser to the White House, some modifications to the approved vaccine could make it more suitable for new variants. Moderna and Pfizer say they are prepared and will be able to do so in 100 days. However, the winter will pass with new tests and permission from the drug administration.
Another way is to increase the dose of Covid Ticker. Specialized boosters for Omicron can be used in this case. Modern is already working on the possibility of implementing this strategy.
Malnupiravir and Paxlovid, which are in the trial phase of Pfizer, show a glimmer of hope in terms of treatment. They target a part of the virus that is not converted to omikron. As a result, Malnupiravir and Paxlovid can be a boon for those infected with Omicron, despite numerous mutations.
Several countries, including the United States, have already banned flights to affected countries to prevent transmission of the Omicron variant. With more information available in the near future, it will be possible to draw conclusions about the pathogenesis and spread of this omikron. As a result, there will be time to take the necessary steps to protect public health.
However, it is important to keep in mind that even if the Corona epidemic reaches a controlled stage, the situation could change rapidly at any moment. Therefore, there is no time to give a hair’s breadth as a precaution. It is therefore important to adhere to all means of vaccination and protection. At the same time, without believing in unscientific conspiracy theories, we have to pay attention to the words of doctors and public health experts.