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Will COVID-19 vaccines stand against Omicron?

- Kimberlie Anne S. Austria

Multiple mutations of the Omicron variant, a new covid19 variant of concern, might make vaccines less effective.

"[Omicron] has a lot of mutations in what we call the spike protein... It's the part of the virus on the outside that's critical both for the virus to actually attach to cells and infect them, but it's also the part that our immune system learns to recognize when we've been infected or vaccinated so that if it sees it against it mounts a good immune response, ” explained Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist.

Scientists' primary concern is the possibility that Omicron will be able to get into cells faster because of its multiple mutations, or it may have mutated so much that the body's immune system doesn't recognize it.

Data analyzed about the new variant suggests that immune protection and the protection from vaccines might be lessened for Omicron due to its multiple mutations. "One the things that surprise scientists about omicron is that it's actually very distantly related from any other variant we've seen so far, " Hodcroft added.

Scientists are now working to understand the variant better to know how protected people are and whether it is more transmissible compared to the previous variants like Delta. She added that scientists believe Omicron became distinct when it appeared in an immunocompromised individual, conditioning the virus to mutate aggressively.

Hodcroft emphasized that even if Omicron seems to have a less bad clinical result and fewer people end up in the hospital, the number of infected individuals will increase if it transmits faster and can foil vaccination protection. If more individuals need hospital admission, healthcare systems will be overwhelmed.

Derrick Williams, a Deutsche Welle (DW) Science correspondent, stated that companies that make COVID-19 vaccines plan to respond to Omicron with tweaks in their products if proven that this variant can really affect immune defenses programmed by vaccines. Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna are ready to produce a massive scale of vaccines tailored for Omicron by March this year. South African scientists revealed this variant in late December 2021 by studying the composition of the virus by sequencing its genes - a tool that allows scientists to follow how a virus mutates.

The Surge of the Omicron Variant of Coronavirus

- -Michelle F. Bengero The South Africa Researchers have discovered a new variant of the novel coronavirus omicron, which has been found in 57 countries; the World Health Organization warns against increasing numbers of hospitalization.

The surge of coronavirus requires billions of people to be vaccinated 2 times or even 3 times. The researchers of South Africa discovers a new variant, omicron that can cause the futile efficacy of the vaccines. The lab workers found different cases that did not match any genes of the virus they started alarming the virologist who studies the composition of the virus by sequencing, which is used to find out how and where the virus mutates. South Africa is known for being advanced in medical researchers and highly specialized medical labs but as soon as the omicron spread, different country borders instituted a ban on South Africa. Some people in different country says that South Africa is being punished for being highly advanced with it comes to science research--but the quest-ion is, will such a travel ban even work? "The fact that this virus is still found in Europe it may also in other countries... " Abdou Salam Gueye, WHO Africa Regional Emergency Director.

According to Emma Hodcroft, a Molecular Epidemiologist the transmissibility of a new variant of the virus is a natural phenomenon that a virus actually mutates and can cause different genes, that cannot be determined by other older sets of the virus. It is not certain that only one country is the host of the virus. Derrick Williams the DW Science correspondents that the scientists and researchers are now working on the vaccines and pretty much Covid-19 Vaccines companies say that they have plans and place to responds to omicron with the use of their product.

In addition, discrepancies in COVID-19 vaccine access must be quickly addressed to ensure that vulnerable groups worldwide, including as health professionals and the elderly, receive their first and second doses, as well as equitable access to treatment and diagnostics.

Omicron a New Variant of Coronavirus

- Ma. Mae Stephanie V. Torres

The Omicron virus, the new variant of Covid-19, discovered through sequencing by South African Researchers.

The Omicron virus, was first discovered through sequencing by South African researches, the new variant was detected in the middle of South Africa ’ s fight with the Delta virus, Even though omicron was found in South africa it doesn't necessarily prove that the variant started in the country, but as soon as the omicron was detected and reveal, many countries instituted travel ban to South Africa.

Through sequencing the new variant was found, sequencing is the tool that allows scientists to know how a variant mutaties through analyzing of the gene materials and by reading its components.

Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist, stated in an interview with DW news that

“Omicron has so many mutations. There's real concerns that this could mean the virus might for example be able to get into cells faster or it might have changed so much that our immune system doesn't recognize it as well. And unfortunately some early data came out a few days ago suggests that immune protection, and the protection from vaccines might be lessened for omicron. ” Due to Omicron's lack of relative data and its rarrines, scientists are having a hard time finding its origins. But some speculations had arisen that it could have grown up and mutated somewhere else completely undetected and had only been picked up when it moved to south africa, another speculation is that it had been a variant that moved into an animal host and jumped back into human.

On the other hand Some of the leading companies in the making of COVID-19 vaccines such as visor, biotec and moderna are ready to begin producing doses that are tailored to omicron on a massive scale by march. Due to the limited data, researchers suggest that the best and right strategy is to continue to give people boosters to increase their antibodies and to wait for more data for omicron.

Omicron: The quickestspreading variant in the present time, found in South Africa

- Allen Quizada

In South Africa, researchers discovered a new Covid-19 variant called "Omicron" in December 2021. The BioNtech Researchers are already developing vaccines against the Omicron variant which will be available in March 2022.

In the interview of Molecular Epidemiologist Emma Hodcroft with Ben Fazal in DW News, she revealed the potential origin of the new Covid-19 variant “Omicron” which was being said first detected in South Africa in December 2021. It's been 2 months since BioNtech Researches first detected the highly mutated coronavirus variant dubbed "Omicron” . Lab workers conducting COVID-19 tests began to notice cases that didn't fit the profiles of the known virus. As a result, they notified virologists, who used gene sequencing to investigate the virus' composition.

Scientists have come to learn that omicron spreads faster than the delta variant and is the quickest-spreading variant in the present time. It also has a huge ability to bypass immune protection and cause breakthrough infections.

The questions are revolving around its severity: Does omicron cause milder disease, compared to previous variants? Does it thereby lower the risk of severe disease and hospitalization?

“So the interesting thing about Omicron, is that it doesn't have many near relatives. Normally, when we identify a variant, we can kind of see its grandparents and its great grandparents, and how it might have become about how it changed over time. With Omicron. We don't really see this, but scientists have some ideas about why it might be so different. ” Emma Hodcroft stated. "Actually, it's still early days. So it's hard to know exactly what impact Omicron is going to have. Certainly, at the moment, we see it growing at quite a fast rate, both in South Africa and in countries in Europe that have good surveillance systems. The more data we get over the next few weeks, the better we'll get an idea of what Omicron has instore for us. " she added. “Even a small percent of a big number is a big number” , she uttered. If a lot of those people end up needing hospitalization and care at the same time, that could really overwhelm their healthcare systems.

The new variant remains a menace to regain the COVID-free country as it mutates quick every now and then. Researchers have found that South Africans infected with omicron are, on average, less likely to end up in the hospital, and they also appear to recover more quickly from illness, compared to the other variants. However people must be still cautious.

As Omicron has been classified as a variant which spreads faster than the delta variant, people must take self-care and follow the protocols. Derek Williams, DW Science Correspondent, on the other hand, highlighted that, “For the time being, the right course of action is to continue giving people boosters of available vaccines and wait for more data on Omicron” as the BioNtech Researchers are producing vaccines available in March, present year.