Omicron was designated a variant of concern on November 26, soon after it was detected in South Africa. Despite being around for almost one month, much is still not known about it. So far, the new Omicron variant has been reported in 89 countries, according to the United Nations’ health agency. However, the severity of the variant is still unclear because of the limited availability of data.
Although there are still doubts on its clinical severity, the Omicron variant is spreading faster than the Delta one. According to the WHO, the number of infections are doubling in 1.5 to 3 days. Omicron spreads very fast in those countries with high levels of immunity. However, the reasons behind this rapid diffusion is still unclear. According to the WHO, this can be due to the virus’ ability to evade immunity, its inherent increased transmissibility or even a combination of these two factors.
Additionally, new data suggests that the highly mutated variant can be more resistant to vaccines and more transmissible than the Delta variant. “There are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron […] More data are needed to understand the severity profile and how severity is impacted by vaccination and pre-existing immunity,” declared the WHO. Additionally, the WHO added that “There are still limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron.”
A recent non-peer reviewed study conducted by the Imperial College London casts a light on the possible severity of the new variant. According to the research, the risk of reinfection with Omicron is five or more times higher than Delta. The study was released on Friday, when British officials reported record COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day, with a rise to 93,045 new infections.
Even WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared that the Omicron variant spreads faster than any other previous variant, adding that it cannot be labelled as a mild variant.
