Graphic Courtesy of Central Coast News
By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23
Science & Environment Editor
In a press statement released on Nov. 26, the CDC announced that the World Health Organization has officially recognized a new coronavirus variant called Omicron. According to the press release, the variant was first identified in South Africa and has since spread to regions across the globe.
CNN reported that, as of Nov. 28, the variant cases have been identified in the U.K., Israel, Australia and Hong Kong, among other regions. Discovery of the variant resulted in an explosion of travel restrictions around the world, according to CNN, with some countries, including the United States, putting a halt to incoming travel from several countries in southern Africa.
Aside from its speed in spreading across the world, another potentially dangerous quality of the Omicron variant is the high number of mutations it has compared to other variants, CNN reported. According to Nature, a majority of Omicron’s mutations involve the virus’ spike protein, which identifies cells to attack in an infected person’s body. Similar mutations also occur in the Delta and Alpha variants and are the source of “heightened infectivity and the ability to evade infection-blocking antibodies,” according to the Nature article. While this has led to increased international concern, Nature reported that the severity of the variant and its transmissibility, including among vaccinated people, is still unknown. The article also stated that several of the infections in South Africa were breakthrough cases, with infected people having already received their vaccines. However, more research will be needed to determine whether the current vaccines are sufficient for protecting human health or if further improvement in immunizations will be necessary.