It was only a matter of time before a new variant of concern emerged. The Omicron variant, identified by scientists across Africa, poses the next major threat in the course of the Pandemic. The new variant is a cause for concern, and it is imperative that we act quickly in response to the new information.
The variant has been found in Hong Kong and Botswana, and will likely be found in other territories in the coming days. Two cases of the new variant have been found in the UK.
The large number of changes relative to the original Wuhan strain were already noted when Omicron was first detected. Some of these changes are linked to the spike protein, which the virus uses to get into our cells, and some of these changes are responsible for either faster transmission or immune escape in other strains. It is possible that other changes in this strain made the virus less effective at transmission.
The Omicron variant is on the rise. There is a change that affects the readout of some of the routine PCR tests, which could be a reason why the South African researchers are more confident. The South African researchers could reprocess the routine tests they have to create an effective proxy for the rise of this variant. There is a high likelihood that this is either a more transmissible or immune-system evading virus because of the strong growth inferred by proxy and the sequence information we have.
There is no evidence to suggest that the Omicron variant increases the severity of disease. This will require continued laboratory investigation in many countries over the coming weeks. This potential immune-escape discovery, which was on nearly every epidemic progress plan, should be considered in the context of the global scientific community's response to it.
Our experience and understanding of the Alpha and Delta variant makes it clear that early action is better than late response. The consequences of not acting early could be devastating if it turns out that this variant is not a major threat.
The real heroes of this story are the scientists from South Africa and Botswana who quickly assembled data, delivered insightful analysis, and were open and transparent about their results.
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory has a deputy director general named Ewan Birney.
