The speed of scientific progress in understanding and treating Covid has been one of the positive experiences of the two years of pandemic gloom. Dexamethasone, a cheap and effective drug, was found to save thousands of lives in rapid large-scale trials.
The public genome database has more than 5 million genomes, and the global scientific community has carried outgenomics to track the evolution of the virus. The Covid variant called Omicron, which has been discovered in the last few days, is an example of the great value of that genomic surveillance, underpinned by a commitment to rapid and open sharing of the data by all countries in near-real time.
Scientists have to work together to build compatible laboratory protocols, software systems and databases. Many scientists are not paid directly for this work, but do it in addition to their other jobs. They believe that sharing data relevant to public health can help speed up scientific understanding, aid in decision-making and contribute to the next generation of medicines.
The roots of this commitment to rapid data sharing are in genetics. The leaders of the Human Genome Project established a set of principles to release a new DNA sequence to public databases within 24 hours. This approach was different from the norm that data only needed to be released when a study is published. The data should be in the public domain according to Sir John. I believe we need a public social welfare attitude to use this information.
The rapid sharing of more than 1m Sars-CoV-2 sequences by the Sanger Institute shows that attitude is still alive and well.
Scientists in Botswana uploaded 99 genomes to this database. Most of the submissions were from the Delta variant. Three of them looked different.
An independent team in South Africa uploaded seven nearly identical genomes on the same day. The new variant of the virus contained an eye-watering number of mutations in the part of the virus's genome that is used to cause disease. Half of these changes had been seen in the earlier variant of concern, or predicted in laboratory experiments to increase the virus's ability to latch on to human cells. They immediately contacted health authorities of their concerns and began an investigation into how widespread this new variant might be.
The fact that these scientists had shared the sequence with the world before they even knew what they were, meant that other scientists, thousands of miles away, could study them as well. The pango designation forum, a corner of the internet where virus genome experts discuss new sequences and assign name that makes it easier to refer to specific parts of the sars-coV-2 family trees, was the site where a post was made within a few hours of the sequence being shared
The international scientists were alarmed by the new variant's alterations. It was prioritised for further study and quickly dubbed B. 1.1.529. The World Health Organization made Omicron the fifth variant of concern after additional evidence was presented. The original discovery took just 72 hours to complete.
Policy responses must reflect reality after the Pandemic made it clear that we are a single global community.
The scientists who sounded the alarm because they are committed to the moral imperative of rapid data sharing knew that it would have consequences. The world should provide support to South Africa and Africa and not discriminate or isolate it, said one of the leaders of the South African genomics team. We will protect the world by protecting and supporting it.
Dozens of countries, including the UK, had announced new travel restrictions on southern Africa by the next day. Travel bans come with serious consequences for people and economies in affected countries, even though some restrictions were unavoidable to buy time to understand this new threat. They have delayed, but not prevented, the spread of new variant. There is a chance that they may be more effective because of the work done to share information so quickly.
When Delta appeared in India, it was less comprehensive and the seriousness of that new variant was not apparent until weeks after it had been circulating widely and exported around the world.
While scientists around the world are scrambling to understand Omicron, and national governments are making response plans, we must also find ways to reward the early warning provided by South Africa. It is not for us in the rest of the world to determine what would be most helpful because less than 25% of South Africans are fully vaccineed. At the front edge of the confrontation with Omicron, countries with an abundance of vaccine doses and other resources should offer whatever they are asked for.
Policy responses must reflect reality after the Pandemic made it clear that we are a single global community. It would be a disaster if the global response to this heroically open science sent the message that the reward for bravery is isolation.
The Covid-19 initiative is being led by Jeffrey Barrett.
