What is it and how does the new Covid variant differ from previous strains

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During a press conference in Downing Street on Wednesday 15 December, Professor Whitty said there should be “really serious caution” about reports of a decline in hospital admissions for omicron cases in South Africa.

He said: “The first warning on this is just a numerical warning — if the hospitalization rate halves but you double every two days, in a couple of days you’ll be back to where you were before you were actually hospitalized.

“If the peak of this is double, and then the amount of hospitalization is halved, you still end up in the same place. And that peak is going really fast.”

He added, “The second point I wanted to make, which I’m not sure everyone has fully understood, is that the amount of immunity in South Africa for this wave – due to a previous delta wave and vaccination – is much higher. than it was in the last wave. So the fact that the hospitalization rate is Low is not surprising.

These sentiments were echoed by Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the coronavirus response at the World Health Organization, during a press conference on December 8, where she warned that reports of mild illness are anecdotal and that it was “too early” to draw firm conclusions.

In a speech on December 12, Boris Johnson warned of a “tidal wave” from Omicron and said: “Make no mistake in thinking that Omicron cannot harm you, nor can it make you and your loved ones seriously ill.”

What happens if I have an Omicron?

All contacts of the new variable cases were originally told to self-isolate, but on December 8, it was announced that daily testing will be conducted instead for those who come into contact with infected people. All Covid contacts are now required to perform daily lateral flow tests, not just those in contact with omicron.

The UK Health Security Agency continues to conduct targeted testing at sites where confirmed cases of oomicron are likely to be infectious.

What is the risk of reinfection with Omicron?

A preliminary large-scale South African study, published on the Medrxiv website, surveyed nearly three million people with Covid. It found that the risk of reinfection from the omicron variant was three times higher than that of the delta and beta strains of the virus.

The authors concluded: “Evidence indicates that the omicron variant is associated with a significant ability to evade immunity from prior infection.”

Why is it called Omicron?

WHO officials skipped two letters of the Greek alphabet when naming the latest variant of Covid in order to avoid “stigmatizing” China, and possibly Prime Minister Xi Jinping.

A source from the World Health Organization confirmed that the letters Nou and Shi were deliberately avoided. They said No was skipped to avoid confusion with the word “new” and Shi was skipped “to avoid stigmatizing the region.”

Since May, new variants of Sars-COV-2 have been given serial names from the Greek alphabet under a naming agreement devised by a panel of experts at the World Health Organization. The system was chosen to prevent variants from becoming known by the names of the places where they were first discovered, which can be stigmatizing and discriminatory.

Do vaccines protect against alternative?

On December 12, Mr Johnson reiterated this fact and said: “Let no one have the slightest doubt: there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming, and I fear it is now clear that two doses of the vaccine are simply not enough to provide the level of protection we all need.” But the good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose – a booster dose – we can all bring our level of protection back up again.”

On December 15, Professor Whitty echoed the Prime Minister’s words, noting that the protection offered by vaccines would be “eroded” as existing vaccines were “less suited” to the Omicron variant.

He added that the aim of the reinforcement is to replicate the previous level of protection.

This was echoed by Professor Salem Abdulkarim, the former chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19, telling The Telegraph that it would take “weeks and weeks” to know whether the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines would defend against B. 1.1.529 variable.

Stefan Bancel, CEO of vaccine manufacturer Moderna, predicted that there would be a “substantial decrease” in the effectiveness of the vaccines against the omicron variant, due to the large number of mutations in the spike protein, which the virus uses to stick to human cells – but this is disputed.

Do booster punches protect against swing?

Data from the government-funded Covboost trial, published in The Lancet, found that booster vaccines produce long-lasting T cells that are likely to work against all current and future variants of the coronavirus, including omicron.

The scientist behind the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination, Dr. Ugur Şahin, said he remains optimistic that the injection will provide protection against severe diseases caused by Omicron. “Our message is: Don’t panic, the plan stays the same: Speed ​​up the administration of a third booster dose,” he told The Wall Street Journal.

Pfizer itself said in a statement that three doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine are effective against the omicron variant, adding that booster individuals have the same level of protection as people who received two doses against the original form of the coronavirus.

Laboratory studies using blood samples of triple and double omicron subjects were infected and the analysis revealed the presence of antibodies that effectively neutralize the variable of concern.

On December 12, Mr Johnson announced the launch of the Omicron Emergency Boost, “a national mission unlike anything we’ve done before in the vaccination programme.”

He emphasized that all adults should have the third dose by the new year, bringing the previous goal of boosting all adults by the end of January forward by a month, while halving the waiting period between the second and third doses from six months to three.

As of Thursday, December 16, 43 per cent of the UK population had received a booster dose.

Starting Monday, children ages 12 to 15 will be able to book a second dose.

At Wednesday’s press conference, Professor Whitty said it was not yet clear to what extent we would need to receive booster vaccines in the future.

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