The World Health Organization named the latest variant of COVID-19 in South Africa as Omicron. The latest variant of this strain contains a large number of mutations and may be more infectious than the Delta strain, frightening the global financial market, and many countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States have reiterated new travel restrictions.
When does Omicron appear
The Wall Street Journal reported that the World Health Service (WHO) stated that preliminary evidence shows that the Omicron variant should be tested for the first time on November 9. It is learned that the number of confirmed cases in South Africa has increased sharply in the past two weeks. Strains are more contagious. The number of new diagnoses in South Africa last week doubled from the previous week.
The New York Times pointed out that only two days after the South African scientists revealed the news, the WHO classified the latest variant as the highest-level “mutation in need of urgent attention.” The first one listed as the highest-level is Delta, which is currently raging around the world. Variant strain.
The WHO issued a statement warning after an emergency meeting. Preliminary evidence shows that the risk of re-infecting this latest variant of COVID-19 patients is not low, and continues the previous practice of naming the variant strains with Greek letters and naming this latest variant. For Omicron.
Why terrible
South African scientists call the latest variant a “evolutionary leap forward” of the COVID-19 virus. The Omicron variant has an unusually large number of about 50 mutations, including more than 30 variants of spiny proteins. Coronaviruses attach to human cells via spike proteins, and current COVID-19 vaccines also target spike proteins of the virus.
New Times pointed out that spike protein mutations are particularly worrying, because antibodies produced after recovery or vaccination mainly identify and lock spike proteins when resisting the virus.
The “Washington Post” reported that Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the FredHutchinson Cancer Research Center, had done a scan test and felt that three of Omicron’s mutations might allow it to escape recovery or Antibodies produced by the vaccine.
Scientists worry that this may mean that Omicron is more easily spread, better able to escape the body’s immune system, and lower the effectiveness of the vaccine.
Global stock markets tremble, countries are screaming new travel bans
The New York Times pointed out that after the UK suspended the entry of people who had recently visited South Africa and several neighboring countries last night, Israel, Singapore, the United States, Canada and even the entire European Union followed suit. Similar to the previous travel ban, countries only allow their citizens and those with permanent residency to return to the country after a negative virus screening. Some countries require additional screening and isolation after arrival.
With the news of the latest variants and travel bans, global stock markets and oil prices have been greatly shaken, and worries that the epidemic may hit the economy again have emerged. The S&P 500 Index (S&P 500 Index) fell 2.3% today, the biggest drop since February this year, while European stocks saw a decline ranging from 3% to 5%. U.S. benchmark oil products and futures plummeted by 13%. It also fell 11%.
The only good news: specific PCR can be detected
The WHO and scientists from various countries are still cautious. After all, little is known about the Omicron variant, and it is not certain whether the damage will be as serious as currently feared. South African scientists only announced the existence of the Omicron strain to the outside world on the 24th. The relevant diagnoses only appeared in the last 3 weeks, and the number is still relatively small.
South African virologist Tulio de Oliveira, who exposed the latest variant to the outside world, said: “If you have to find good news, it should be that this variant can be detected by a specific PCR.” This represents the experiment responsible for diagnosis. The laboratory can quickly confirm whether the specimen is Omicron, without having to analyze the entire virus gene sequence.
In addition, South African scientists and health officials said that currently no confirmed Omicron patients have symptoms that are different from those infected with other virus strains, and there is currently no indication that Omicron will cause more serious diseases in the body.
The effect of the vaccine will not return to zero. Wearing a good mask is still the best policy
China Post pointed out that experts believe that even if Omicron will weaken the effect of the vaccine, the protection provided by the vaccine cannot be zero.
Bren said: “My expectation is that the mutation of the Omicron strain will not completely avoid or offset the neutralizing antibodies produced by recovery or vaccination. However, regardless of whether this new strain will spread, I suggest that people still try their best. You can avoid the chance of getting infected. There are many things you can do, including vaccinations and wearing masks.”
New York Times quoted an unnamed government official as revealing that the US government is already negotiating with vaccine manufacturers about the possibility of having to reformulate the vaccine to deal with the latest variant of the virus. But first, scientists have to make sure that the existing vaccines are indeed inferior to Omicron. This process is expected to take more than several weeks.
According to Pfizer/BioNTech, if it is confirmed that the latest variant can evade the vaccine, it is expected that an improved version of the vaccine for Omicron will be developed in about 100 days, but it will take time to obtain approval from the drug regulatory agency.
Moderna said today that they will launch a booster injection for Omicron as soon as possible, and will also take blood tests from clinical subjects who are participating in the development of an improved version of the vaccine to take a look at the current research and development for the other two variants. Does the improved version have an effect on the Omicron strain because the mutations are similar to each other.
(Central News Agency Comprehensive Foreign Telegraph Report; Source of the first image: Pixabay)
