On November 26, the World Health Organization listed the variant strain of COVID-19 B.1.1.529 as the variant strain "needing attention", and named it after the Greek letter "Omicron" (0). A month has passed, and the Omicron variant has spread to over 100 countries and regions worldwide. How much do people really know about it? Is it more aggressive than the Delta variant? Will it invalidate the existing COVID-19 vaccine?
The reason why the Omikjon virus strain was initially concerned was that it carried a large number of gene mutations. There were about 30 mutations on the spike protein on its surface alone. COVID-19 infected the human body through the combination of spike protein and human cell receptors. Research suggests that some mutations may enhance the infectivity and immune evasion ability of the virus.
According to data from the World Health Organization, as of December 22, the Omicron variant has spread to 110 countries and regions worldwide. In places such as the UK and the US, this strain has replaced the Delta strain as the main prevalent strain locally. With the increase of relevant data, people's understanding of the Omicron variant is also constantly deepening.
Existing evidence shows that in countries with community transmission records, the Omicron variant spreads significantly faster than the Delta variant, with a doubling time of 2 to 3 days for the number of infections. However, experts from the World Health Organization have stated that it is currently uncertain whether the rapid increase in Omicron variant infections observed since November is due to increased viral infectivity or enhanced immune evasion ability, and it is likely a combination of both.
Early data from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Denmark indicate that compared to the Delta strain, individuals infected with the Omicron strain have a lower risk of hospitalization. However, hospitalization risk is only one aspect that reflects the severity of the disease and may vary depending on the level of admission threshold. Therefore, more data from different countries, such as the use of oxygen and ventilators, mortality rates, etc., are needed to understand the severity of diseases caused by this strain. However, the reduction of hospitalization risk observed at present may also be related to the immunity that some people have acquired through COVID-19 vaccine or infection.
Is the existing COVID-19 vaccine still effective? Will people infected with other strains of COVID-19 still be infected with the Omicron strain? For these issues of general concern, WHO released a report on December 23, saying that many preliminary research results showed that some people who had been vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccine or infected with other COVID-19 strains had reduced immune effect of their antibodies against the Omikron virus strain, and many countries recently reported an increase in the number of COVID-19 secondary infection cases. However, the data on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine in preventing the infection of Omicron virus strain is still limited, and there is no research evidence that has been peer reviewed.
As for whether the Omikron virus strain affects the existing COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment methods, WHO said that at present, the virus strain will not affect the accuracy of current commonly used nucleic acid detection and rapid antigen detection. It is expected that corticosteroids and interleukin-6 receptor antagonists are still effective in the treatment of severe COVID-19 disease. Preliminary research data shows that the neutralizing ability of some monoclonal antibody drugs against the Omicron strain has decreased, and further research is needed.
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